Prevalence of morbidity and morbidity pattern among primary school children in rural area of Jalna, Maharashtra, India -

Background: Children are nation’s greatest asset. School children constitute around 25% of total population of India. They are more vulnerable to infections and malnutrition than rest of the population. The objective of the study was to find the prevalence of morbidity among school children and assessment of the morbidity pattern among school children . Methods:  The present cross sectional study was carried out from January 2015 to march 2015 in randomly selected primary schools of rural area of Jalna, Maharashtra. The study subjects were school going children, total number of 352 children studying from grade I to V  who were present on the day of examination were included the study. The children were examined for the presence of different morbidities. Results: Total three hundred and fifty two children were included in the present study. Total 60% of school children were found to have one or other morbidity. Prevalence of morbidities among girls was more than boys. The prevalence of nutritional deficiency diseases was the most common 52.27% followed by respiratory infections15.34% and then infective and parasitic diseases 12.78%. Ear discharge was present in 7% of children more in boys than girls but it was not statistically significant. The prevalence of dental caries was 6.66% in boys and 5.34% in girls. Lymphadenopathy was present in 4.2% of children. Conclusions: Prevalence of morbidities found to be 1.89 morbidities per sick child and 1.13 morbidities per child. The prevalence of nutritional deficiency diseases was the most common followed by respiratory infections and then infective and parasitic diseases. Prevalence of eye, ear and skin problems were low in this study. Most of the diseases among school going children were preventable.