Health survey of students planned

A general health assessment survey of schoolchildren in the capital to identify common problems will shortly be conducted by the Abu Dhabi School Health Department of the Ministry of Health.

Dr Hassan Abdul Moneim Abdul Salam, Director of the School Health Administration in Abu Dhabi, told Gulf News, "We are in the process of preparing a general survey of all the students in Abu Dhabi to identify the kind of health problems common among them."

The target group will be more than 66,000 students from grade 1 to grade 12, he said. The survey will begin by mid-September once the students settle down in the new semester.

A final decision has still not been taken if this survey will be a precursor to a more comprehensive nationwide survey, he added. The decision in that respect would be taken next week.

The survey will involve screening students for a broad range of health problems.

"We will try to ascertain their general health status by conducting a complete check-up of their body such as the chest, heart, eyes, and ears, and by answering questions on their nutritional intake, as a sample of the questionnaire," he explained.

The department is undertaking this survey to acquire baseline information on the "main" health problems faced by the children in the UAE, he said.

"Up to now, the department has collected information on different health problems. For example, we have studies which show 30 to 40 per cent of the students suffer from obesity, or 18-22 per cent of children suffer from bronchial asthma. But these results are not based on a comprehensive survey."

The survey will be facilitated by the Abu Dhabi School Health Department's clinics stationed at the 130 schools in the capital. The more serious cases are then referred to the main clinic in the offices of the Abu Dhabi school health administration at the Central Hospital.