India sits on a ticking health time bomb, with one of the largest incidences of population suffering from Diabetes, Hypertension, Cardio-vascular and mental health issues. Right attitudes and behavior towards health can bring a visible and lasting change. There is perhaps no better place towards inculcating awareness, then in Schools. The most important life skills that Schools help develop are towards ones’ health, hygiene and safety. We are proud to be associated with Takshila Schools who have been conducting Health Screening Programs and awareness sessions for Students thus Enhancing the Effectiveness and Impact of Schools.
Our recently released health report titled “Enhancing Effectiveness and Impact of Schools”. The report reveals a substantial percentage of children in the age group 2 to 17 years suffering health abnormalities in the areas of BMI (obesity/underweight), Vision (myopia/hyperopia), Dental (decay/cavities), followed by ENT, Hygiene related issues.
Our Health report is based on data from 1,76,000 student data screenings covering Pre-Primary centers and K-12 Schools spread over 20 cities in India. Some of our key observations:
Focus on Nutritional Value of what the child eats and not the quantity:
- 30% of students have been found with Abnormal BMI. 19% of all students have been found to be either Obese or Overweight.
- In Schools belonging to higher socio-economic backgrounds the number of Obese or Overweight children are at 21%.
- Our data shows a high jump in the Obese or Overweight children as we move from Pre-Primary to Primary
- Our discussions with Parents indicate that most parents are still concerned with the quantity of food the child is eating and focus much less on the nutritional value of the meal
Regular eye-checkups are key:
- 5% of all students screened by us show non-normal vision
- 1 in 2 children will potentially need glasses
- Non-normal vision was observed in 30% of all children wearing glasses, clearly indicating the need of regular vision screening
If it doesn’t pain there is no need to see a Dentist:
- More then 50% of all students were found with Dental problems, 27% of students were found to have Carries.
- Our follow-up screening results indicate that a lot of parents still believe that if the Child does not complain of tooth-ache, there is no need to take any corrective action
Good Hygiene is not a given
- 14% of students were observed with Poor Hygiene (Oral, Hair, Nail or Ear Hygiene)
- Schools belonging to higher socio-economic background had 13% students with Poor hygiene as compared to 20% students belonging to lower socio-economic background. Just because a child belongs to a higher Socio-economic strata does not mean will have good hygiene. Awareness & continuous re-enforcement of hygiene is the key.
Levels of activity are dipping:
- Our Spirometery readings indicate that 63% of students have readings of less then the specified reading.
- Reducing levels of physical activity, increasing time spent on Digital Devices was one of the top refrains from Parents during our interactions
- Schools can play an important role in ensuring higher levels of Physical Activities.
- Lesser levels of physical activities coupled with high usage of Digital devices is leading to higher levels of anxiety, stress and depression amongst the young population.
Our data clearly indicates much better “Action taken” percentages by Parents in Schools where we have been conducting the Health Screening for multiple years indicating that higher and continuous awareness leads to improving Health outcomes.
About Jarma Wellness:
Jarma Wellness LLP (https://www.jarmawellness.com) works with Schools in the areas of Preventive Healthcare, First Aid training, School Infirmary set-up, Health Technology & Analytics and Education Services. We have screened more than 4,00,000 students since 2013 across 27 cities in India. We are an ISO 9001:2015 certified organization.
