HEALTH SURVEY OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN: OUTCOME AND IMPLICATION FOR STRENGTHENING SCHOOL HEALTH INSPECTION IN ABRAKA, DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

      Background:

Health inspection involves physical observation of the general appearance, mouth and teeth, nose

and throat, skin, ears, eyes, scalp and hair, and behavior of children at play. The objective of this

study was therefore to conduct a health survey of primary school children with a view to providing relevant information with policy implication for strengthening school health inspection in Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria.

Method:

This is a school based cross-sectional descriptive study conducted from September 2009 to February 2010 among primary school children in Abraka selected by multistage sampling technique. The study instrument was a pro-forma with twenty items subdivided into two sections.

Results:

The outcome of health inspection of the children revealed that over half (57.1 %) of them had dirty nails, while 45.0 %, 29.8 %, 21.2 %, 18.6 % and 1.8 % of them had dirty uniform, dental caries, skin infections, dirty hair and ear discharge respectively. The association between the occurrence of dirty nails, dirty uniform, dirty hair and dental caries with the type of primary school (private or public) were statistically significant (P<0.05), while the association between the occurrence of ear discharge and skin infection with the type of primary school were not statistically significant (P>0.05).

Conclusion: This study has revealed the poor state of affairs as regards school health inspection of primary school children in Abraka.