NIOSHTIC-2 Publications Search
Health of Nigerian Rural School Children.
Oyemade-A; Olugbile-A; Janes-MD
Proceedings of the VII International Congress of Rural Medicine, September 17-21, Salt Lake City, Utah, International Association of Agricultural Medicine 1978 Sep:46-50
A study of the health status of primary school children in rural Nigeria was conducted. The study group consisted of 353 primary school children, 211 males, 6 to 14 years old, in Badeku, a small village in rural Nigeria. They were given medical examinations. Their results were compared with those of an ongoing study being conducted by the Institute of Child Health at the University of Ibadan, of well to do children from urban Nigeria. These data were only available for children ages 3 to 11 years. For children 12 years and older, a British standard was used for comparison. Almost all of the weight for height values were below the third percentile. Six girls and seven boys in the 12 to 14 year age group had heights and weights near the fiftieth percentile of the British standard. Angular stomatitis and dental caries were found in 105 and 95 subjects, respectively. Tinea capitis was found in 48 subjects, scabies in 24, and leg ulcers from infected wounds in 33. Four subjects had a temperature above 100 degrees-F. Twenty seven subjects had an umbilical hernia. An enlarged spleen was found in 52 subjects and a palpable liver in 31. A total of 255 subjects had small pox vaccination scars and 248 had tuberculosis scars. The authors conclude that school children in rural Nigeria are malnourished. A health education program and introducing supervised school meals should help solve the nutrition problem.
NIOSH-Grant; Grants-other; Anthropometry; Health-survey; Medical-examinations; Age-factors; Nutritional-disorders; Tooth-decay;
Prev Med & Environmental Hlth University of Iowa Inst/agric Med & Environ Hlth Iowa Oakdale, Iowa 52319
Infectious Diseases; Disease and Injury; Other Occupational Concerns; Grants-other; Special Populations;
Proceedings of the VII International Congress of Rural Medicine, September 17-21, Salt Lake City, Utah, International Association of Agricultural Medicine
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Page last reviewed: March 11, 2019
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Education and Information Division