Health promoting schools in urban, semi-urban and rural Lao PDR

Abstract

Health promoting school activities have been implemented in developing countries, but their experiences have not been fully shared. Our objective is to explore the differences of health promoting school status in urban, semi-urban and rural areas in Lao PDR. To accomplish this we evaluated 138 schools in three provinces using a checklist developed by the government school health taskforce. We interviewed first through fifth grade pupils, school principals, food vendors, community chiefs, and observed school environments. We found that urban and semi-urban schools had higher scores than rural schools in the areas of, "personal health and life skills," "healthy school environment," "health and nutrition services," and "common disease control and prevention." However, semi-urban and rural schools showed better results than urban schools for some questions within the "school and community partnerships" component. When the results of individual schools were examined, there was considerable variation. We found a tendency for higher scores in urban areas, which went down for semi-urban areas and further decreased for rural areas. However, we also found differences among schools within each study site. In conclusion, we found not only a large difference among urban, semi-urban and rural schools but also clear differences in health promoting school status among schools within each study site in Lao PDR. Based on the results, we recommend that each school adopt a tailored approach for the health promoting school programme based upon an analysis of its own scores.

Prostaglandin E2 Activates NLRP3 Inflammasome in Endothelial Cells to Promote Diabetic Retinopathy

“…Inflammation is thought to be associated with the development of DR, especially in pathological neovascularization where proliferative diabetic retinopathy occurs [26]. In previous studies, the crucial pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 and IFN-γ were detectable in both non-PDR and PDR eyes [27]. There were no differences in the expression patterns of the pro-inflammatory cytokines between two DR disease severity forms, constant with the previous results [28].…”

School and community relationship in the perspective of Health Promotion

“…Studies in the USA and Canada [8,9] confirm that schools still tend to develop HP actions focused on the prevention of certain risk behaviors, remnants of a conception of health as an absence of disease, not linked to living conditions of the populations [18]. Nevertheless, the results of these studies point to a better performance in healthy behaviors, such as the decrease in the percentage of overweight and obesity and decrease in the prevalence of smoking, explained by the application of policies and programs in the analyzed schools, which consider the multiple aspects of their context and some characteristics of the surrounding community.…”

Validation of an instrument to evaluate health promotion at schools

“…Since the 1980s, which saw the signing of the Ottawa Charter for health promotion, schools have been seen as suitable environments for promoting health. This theme has been further expanded on several fronts, such as on the Jakarta Declaration (1997), in the creation of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools 29 and on initiatives involving all continents 2 , 17 , 26 , 27 . To strengthen disease prevention and health promotion in Brazilian schools, the Brazilian Government instituted the Programa Saúde na Escola (PSE – School Health Program) 19 , along with actions to promote healthy eating, a culture of peace, human rights, reduced consumption of alcohol and other drugs and sexual and reproductive health, as well as anthropometric, oral and visual evaluations and periodical vaccinations.…”