Vector-borne diseases contribute substantially to the global burden of diseases and disproportionately affect poor and under-served populations living in a country like India. Children can be effective change agents of health in their schools, peer groups, families and communities. We evaluated the effectiveness of participatory school health education on vector-borne diseases among 200 high school children, 100 each from government and private schools. Questions regarding vector-borne diseases, mosquito breeding sites, diseases transmitted by them and mosquito control measures were used to assess their knowledge before and after a health education intervention. Education included lecture, role play and community-based group activity. Average overall pretest score was 11.8^5.03 which increased significantly to 19.3^4.69 after intervention. Health education showed significant improvement in knowledge irrespective of type of school, gender or class of study. It was observed that private school children, girls and 10th class students' post-test scores were significantly better than their counter groups. Participatory school-based health education improved the knowledge of children regarding vector-borne diseases. This could be an effective medium in promoting health and possibly behavioural changes in the community. Such school-based vector-borne disease control could be applied to developing countries where there is good school enrolment and attendance.
Background: Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) constitute the single largest cause of preventable brain damage worldwide leading to learning disabilities and psychomotor impairment. Nearly 266 million school children worldwide have insufficient iodine intake. IDD was found to be a public health problem in 47 countries. Since the information on current prevalence of goiter in Kolar was not available, the present study was undertaken.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among school children aged 6-12 years in Kolar taluk. A total of 2700 children were selected for goiter examination by multistage random cluster sampling technique. A total of 270 children were tested for the median urinary concentration and 540 salt samples were tested from the households of the study population.Results: The total goiter rate was 5.66% among primary school children aged 6-12 years with a significant difference between ages. As the age increased the goiter prevalence also increased. The median urinary iodine excretion level was found to be 105 mcg/l and 92.788.7% salt samples had >15 ppm iodine content.Conclusions: Present study shows mild goiter prevalence in primary school children in Kolar district and an adequate iodine content of salt in urine.
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