Nurturing and teaching children under the age of five years has increasingly become the job of preschool workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics l (1992; 1994), there are approximately one million preschool workers in the United States, of whom approximately 96% are female. Because the numbers of children under age 5 and women in the work force are increasing, and because women are returning to work sooner after childbirth, the number of preschool workers in the US is expected to rise steadily through the year 2005. Despite reports from Japan which indicate that caring for children is associated with an increased prevalence of neck, shoulder and back pain, the potential for musculoskeletal trauma among preschool workers has largely been ignored in the United States.