Multiple problems of school medicine: state of health and organization of nutrition for schoolchildren

Abstract

Introduction. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of schoolchildren with chronic diseases. Employees of the Astrakhan State Medical University, together with colleagues from Children’s City Polyclinic №4, worked to study the impact of nutrition on the growth of disease cases in educational institutions.Aim. Study of the impact of nutrition in educational institutions on the state of health of modern schoolchildren in the city of Astrakhan, as well as the understanding of children and their parents of the principles of healthy nutrition of children.Materials and methods. The health status of 9063 schoolchildren was monitored in general education institutions located in the service area of Children’s City Polyclinic No. 4. Data from preventive examinations 2018–2020 were used. Schoolchildren (579 people) in grades 8–11 and parents (591 people) were surveyed for the state of the child’s health and attitude to healthy nutrition in schools.Results. According to the results of monitoring by the Office of Rospotrebnadzor in the Astrakhan region in the region, no educational institution has a balanced diet. Preventive examinations of schoolchildren showed that only 7% of children with health group I entered the first grades. In a significant part of schoolchildren, various functional violations were noted (57%). In the structure of such disorders, the first place is diseases of the musculoskeletal system, the second place is the pathology of the digestive organs, and the third place is the violation of neuropsychiatric health. There was a high level of allergopathology, eye diseases. 3% of children showed hearing loss. When examining the cardiovascular system (ECG screening), only 63% of schoolchildren had no significant abnormalities.Conclusion. Unsustainable nutrition of schoolchildren is one of the reasons for the high level of incidence of schoolchildren, the prevalence of chronic diseases, and physical disorders. It is necessary to introduce healthy-saving technologies in schools and control the organization of nutrition for schoolchildren.