Increased prevalence of obesity among children during 20 years in a rural area in Akita Prefecture / 日本農村医学会雑誌

From the standpoint of pediatricians, we have cautiously watched the increased prevalence of obesity among children as a phenomenon concomitant with the urbanization of agricultural communities.<BR>In this paper the findings of the latest survey of obesity in primary school children are axamined in comparison with the results of 1970 survey.<BR>The number of the children covered by the latest survey was 10, 606, of which 839 children (79.1%) were found in the condition of obesity, or 20% or more over a desired weigth, showing the incidence of obesity is 9 times higher than that in the previous survey.

Status-Que of Bronchial Asthma in Children in Akita Prefecture Report No.1, Present condition of bronchial asthma in elementary and junior high school pupils / 日本農村医学会雑誌

Our survey was conducted at 522 elementary schools and junior high schools in Akita prefecture in July 1981. Thus the survey was intended for 105, 137 elementary school pupils bnd 51, 029 junior high school pupils. Questionnaires were sent to teachers in charge at each school. The return rate of questionnaires wan 98.4 % for elementary school and 100.0 % for junior high school. The rate of bronchial asthma was 1.2 %(boy 1.5 %, girl 0.9 %) in elementary school pupils and 0.6 %(boy 0.8 %, girl 0.5 %) in junior high school pupils. The number of schools where pupils with bronchial asthma were found was 205 elementary schools (56.0 %) and 71 junior high schools (47.0 %). The rate of bronchial asthma in boys was greater than girls, by 1.7 times in case of elementary school and 1.6 times in junior high school. The rate of bronchial asthma in urban children was 1.2 %, while that in rural children was 0.8 %. Out of the children interpreted as bronchial asthma at the time of our survey 82.4 % of the elementary school children and 77.6 % of the junior high school children with bronchial asthma were or had been undergoing apropriate treatment. The rate of children who are absent from school due to asthma more than 10 days a year was 24.4 % in elementary school and 26.7 % in junior high school.

Occurrence of Child Peptic Ulcer in A Rural Community / 日本農村医学会雑誌

During the 18-month period from January 1, 1981 to June 30, 1082, we encountered a total of 11 cases of child peptic ulcer-three gastric ulcer and eight duodenal ulcer casen.<BR>There is every indication that the incidence of child peptic ulcer will increase in a rural area like Yuri, which is situated in Japan's northeastern prefecture of Akita.<BR>To be noted is the fact that 10 cases out of 11 of peptic ulcer were found in three-year lower secondary schoolchildren and the remaining one was found in a sixth grader of six-year elementary school. The incidence as well as the number of visits to our clinics went up as the age advances and reached a peak in third graders of lower secondary school.<BR>The reason why third graders of lower secondary school were attacked most by peptic ulcer is probably that they, at puberty, are under psychic or psychogenic stress with anxiety over high school entrance examinations, mental strain from forced attendance at a cramming school, trouble in getting along with friends, and dissatisfaction with parents.<BR>Therefore, child peptic ulcer should not be treated as a disease of the digestive organ alone but as a disorder in the autonomic nervous system with an aid of psychosomatic medicine and psychiatry. For the prevention of the disease, it would also be necessary to take account of socio-cultural factors.