Socio-Demographic Factors Affecting Morbidity In Primary School Children In Urban Area Of Meerut

Objective: 1. To study the socio-demographic factors affecting morbidity in primary school children (5-11 years) in urban Meerut. Study Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Govt. Primary Schools of Urban Meerut. Participants: 800 school children (5-11 years). Methodology: Out of a list of all govt. primary schools, 5 were randomly chosen. Students aged 5-11 years were included in the study. Complete data of each child was collected in a pre-designed, pre-tested proforma. Statistical Analysis: percentages and Chi-square test. Result: Out of 800 children (426 boys and 374 girls), 542 children (67.8 %) were found to be suffering from one or more morbid conditions. Prevalence of morbidity was found to be maximum in Muslim children ( 82.5%), children belonging to lower class ( 90%) and Schedule castes (75.5%). The association of morbidity with the type of family was also found to be significant (p<.01) being 73.1% in nuclear families and 49.7% in joint families. Morbidity was significantly higher (p<.001) in children who were non vegetarian (73.9%) as compared to vegetarians (62.5%) & also maximum (84.4%) in children with poor personal hygiene as compared to those with good personal hygiene (p<.001). The difference in morbidity with literacy status of parents was found to be statistically significant (p<.001) being maximum in children of illiterate parents. Conclusion: Most of the defects and diseases that are seen among the school children are preventable and the health of the child can be preserved and improved by promotion of hygienic practices through proper health education by the teachers, who are the first contacts.