Morbidity pattern and personal hygiene in children among private primary school in urban area: are the trends changing?

• Published in: Journal of family medicine and primary care Vol. 2; no. 3; pp. 266 - 269
• Main Authors: Mhaske, Mayavati S, Khismatrao, Deepak S, Kevin, Fernandez, Pandve, Harshal T, Kundap, Ritesh P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01-07-2013; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Elementary school students; Forecasts and trends; Grooming; Health aspects; Health problems; Hygiene; Metropolitan areas; Morbidity; Original; personal hygiene; private school; Private schools; school children; India; morbidity; private school; personal hygiene; Health problems; school children
• ISSN: 2249-4863; 2278-7135
• DOI: 10.4103/2249-4863.120753

School health is an important intervention as a great deal of research tells us that schools can have a major effect on children's health, by teaching them about health and promoting healthy behaviors.
The aim of this study is to determine common health problems and assess personal hygiene status among primary school children.
A cross-sectional study was conducted in academic years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, with three health check-up camps organized in private primary school of Pune city.
A total of 450 students were assessed for health problems and composite score of personal hygiene status was calculated ranging from 0 to 5 by examination of hairs, nails, skin and clothes.
Proportions calculated with application of Chi-square test and Pearson co-efficient applied to observe the relation between two quantitative variables.
Out of 450 students examined, 56.2% were boys and 43.8% were girls with age ranging from 5 to 10 years. The major morbidities observed were dental caries (65.1%), upper respiratory tract infections (38.2%), ear wax (29.9%) and myopia (10.0%). Mean hygiene score was significantly higher in girls (4.32) than boys (3.95) and poor hygiene observed in older boys.
Increasing myopia and poor dental hygiene denotes a changing morbidity pattern in private primary school of the urban area. The hygiene status of the girls is significantly better than boys.