Warnings are emerging from health organizations and experts much more frequently lately. This is because various surveys are revealing that the average handbag is estimated to weigh 5.5lbs and this figure could rise to 6.5lbs over the next decade.

We know that there's a definite trend for large totes, but what on earth are we women carrying in our bags to make them so heavy? One survey carried out in Japan asked 25,000 people what they were carrying and the number one item was no surprise; a wallet. However, Manga magazines, toothbrushes and portable ashtrays were amongst some of the stranger items that are carried. One company who produce painkillers (Anadin) found that one in four women who carry painkillers in their handbag see them as just as important as their keys. Certainly mothers and those with health conditions will need to carry more medication than others, but surveys show a large number of women are carrying supplements in their bags too; something that should only be taken once a day – so why is it not at home in a cupboard?

Perhaps it's our lifestyle growing ever faster and more hectic that requires us to have a 'mini life' with us at all times. Tissues, bottles of water, chewing gum, snack food and mobile phones are all very run of the mill things to carry with us, yet 50 years ago a woman may have only had a handkerchief in her sleeve and her purse in a handbag. With everything geared towards being compact, portable and fast we can put them into our handbags, yet are they causing more hindrance than good? If you get used to having a bottle of water to hand it can be very difficult to give the habit up. Things like miniature toiletries are bulking up our hand luggage too; hand creams, Vaseline tubs, mini hair products etc.

Gadgets are getting a lot of the blame for heavy handbags too. Okay so the iPod Nano is far smaller and lighter than the iPods we were using 5 years ago, but now we have electronic organizers, blackberries, digital cameras and often a personal as well as a business phone. Do we need all of these gadgets knocking around in the bottom of our bags with our hair clips? Maybe they're not doing so much harm after all, but health experts and chiropractors warn that back problems are often cumulative, so while you feel right as rain waltzing through town with a new tote, five years down the line wearing it mostly on your right shoulder could be putting your back out of alignment.

It's difficult to monitor what the average woman carries in her handbag and evaluate it because women often carry items for children and for work as well, but the one trend we should be looking at is that handbags are getting heavier. There are all kinds of handbag trends around and they come round in cycles, but all we can hope for is that backpacks and chiropractic styles come into fashion so our postures are saved!

Stan Tian

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