The Health Situation among Thai Elementary School-Age Children: 2010
Chanyut Suphakunpinyo MD*, Rosawan Areemit MD* Kaewjai Thepsuthammarat PhD**, Sumitr Sutra MD*
Affiliation : * Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand ** Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Background : The school years are a crucial time in the development of the basic life skills necessary for learning in the
various and different fields to be encountered in life, as well as for developing and acquiring the knowledge, skills and
attitudes necessary to establish and maintain a healthy lifestyle. In general, elementary school-age children rarely present at
health service centers but may nevertheless have health problems that affect their ability to learn.
Objective : To analyze the health situation among elementary school-age children in Thailand, for the creation of baseline
information to serve as an evential basis for making recommendations for adjusting the medical education curriculum and
for improving health service provision.
Material and Method: To analyze nationwide, hospital data, for the morbidity and mortality of children age 6-12 years in
fiscal year 2010.
Results : Respiratory infections represented the leading cause for out-patient visits-approximately one-fifth. Respiratory
infections were also a significant cause for admissions (21.6%), followed by dengue hemorrhagic fever (14.8%), injury and
poisoning (11.3%), disease of digestive system (11.1%) and intestinal infection (10.3%). The leading causes of death were
injury and poisoning (22.7%), followed by neoplasm (14.4%), other infection (13.5%) and respiratory infection (12.6%).
Overall, about 50-60% of the causes of admissions and of deaths were due to infectious diseases and injury & poisoning.
Conclusion : Infectious diseases and injury & poisoning were the major physical illnesses among school-age children.
Notwithstanding, there were other health issues-including nutrition, growth & development, mental health & psychosocial
problems-that need to be recognized and addressed in order to ensure the health and well-being of school-age children in
Thailand.
Keywords : School age, Thai, Health situation
