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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : March 6, 2018 2:56 PM IST
School-based screening of 104,105 children studying in 138 private schools has revealed some alarming trends on school students in Bengaluru. Conducted by AddressHealth, India's largest provider of health services in schools for children, the survey indicates about 10% of school children in Bengaluru are obese, while 13.8% children are at risk of contracting lifestyle diseases in adulthood with waistlines which are more than half their height.
The survey data was compiled over the current academic year and revealed a significant degree of malnutrition (both over and undernutrition) among children with 9.2% of children being obese and another 13.7% children falling in the overweight category (overnutrition)while about 8.5% of them are too thin for their age (Undernutrition). Apart from this, 28.6% school children have dental caries (cavities) while 15.1% have newly detected/ worsening vision problems. In addition, more than 200 children had previously undetected cardiac murmurs, and 70 children had previously undetected hearing defects.
Commenting on the survey results Dr Anand Lakshman, Founder and CEO, Address Health, said, "Children are increasingly vulnerable due to a variety of lifestyle and environmental factors such as proliferation of fast food options, lack of physical activity, too much screen time etc. We believe schools and parents/guardians should place adequate emphasis on children's health and wellbeing, beyond the usual vaccines and episodes of sickness, failing which non-communicable diseases will only become more commonplace in the younger generation. The times are changing and new age problems need to addressed proactively and continuously. The data from our mental health program also suggests a moderate risk of mental health conditions amongst school children such as emotional difficulties, behavioural issues and lack of social skills"
Key findings of the AddressHealth survey are as below:
"Schools are not just centers for imparting formal education but also institutions that influence values, beliefs and importantly practices. A healthy lifestyle including hygiene habits must be inculcated during childhood. These positive behaviors will last through to adulthood and for the rest of a person's life. Children are naturally inquisitive and keen learners. They can thus become both the beneficiaries and the agents of change in the family," added Dr. Lakshman.
AddressHealth has conducted surveys in 177 schools covering 1,26,467 children across 4 Indian cities including Bangalore, and data points to similar trends across cities with a high likelihood of chronic disease in adulthood. The number of children covered by the surveys over the last 12months include 1,04,105 children in Bengaluru, 652 in Delhi, 18,422 in Hyderabad, and 3,288 in Pune. The prevalence of various conditions across these four cities is as follows: obese as per BMI for age standards (8.8%), over-weight but not obese (12.6%), low BMI (8.5%), risk of lifestyle diseases [Waist/ Height Ratio>0.5] (14.6%), vision problems (14.6%), and dental caries (29.7%). About 219 and 9101 children are at risk of potential heart defects and clinical anemia, respectively.
Obesity is seen across income groups but rising rapidly in the schools catering to higher income groups and primary and secondary school children. There is an increasing trend of the risk of lifestyle diseases, due to reduced physical activity, which is reflected in the significant percentage of children with a higher than recommended waist-to-height ratio.
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