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This journal issue includes s of papers presented at the conference. Topics discussed are: sleeping characteristics among primary school children in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka;cosmetic effects of post thyroidectomy scar and evaluation of patient satisfaction;post-vaccination symptoms of COVID-19 vaccines among adults in Galle;multiple chest trauma in a victim of road traffic collision;anatomical variations of renal vein in a group of Sri Lankan cadavers;hospital acquired infections among patients in Intensive Care Units in Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya;serum Vitamin D level among 1 to 5-year-old children in Galle Municipality and Bope Poddala MOH area.
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Purpose: Childhood obesity has become a social problem due to the social distancing necessitated by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. This study aimed to identify the dietary problems of obese children through various dietary assessment methods and to confirm the usefulness of each method. Methods: The subjects were 88 students in the 4th to 6th grade of elementary school who participated in the nutrition camp organised by the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education, 2020. To evaluate dietary problems and assess diet quality, 24-hour meal records, monthly food intake frequency, and Dietary Screening Test (DST) data were analyzed. Results: Of the subjects, 15.7%, 30.3%, and 53.9% were normal weight, overweight, and obese, respectively. The average age was 11.77 +or- 0.77 years and the average body mass index was 23.96 +or- 3.01 kg/m2. It was observed from the 24-hour meal record method that the overweight and obese subject groups consumed fewer green vegetables (p < 0.001) and white vegetables (p < 0.01) than the normal weight group. In the monthly food intake frequency method, the consumption of ramen (p < 0.01), snacks (p < 0.05), and sausages (p < 0.05) were high in the obese group, and that of anchovies, broccoli, and sweet pumpkin was high in the normal group (p < 0.05). The comparative data from the DST revealed that the overweight and obese groups had less vegetable intake than the normal weight group (p < 0.01) and had higher intakes of dairy products, fast food, and sweet snacks (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The usefulness of each method in the dietary evaluation of obese children was confirmed. To address the problem of obesity, it is necessary to evaluate the dietary problem and approach it with a customized solution tailor-made for the individual subject.
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Objective: To understand the epidemiological and etiological characteristics of influenza in Mianyang City from 2019 to 2021, so as to provide a basis for the prevention and control of influenza. Methods: Influenza surveillance data in Mianyang City from 2019 to 2021 were collected and analyzed statistically. Results: A total of 55 970 cases of influenza were reported in Mianyang City from 2019 to 2021, with an average annual incidence of 388.08/100 000. A total of 103 723 cases of influenza-like illness cases (ILI) were reported, with an average annual ILI% of 3.58%. The incidence, ILI%, and positive detection rates of influenza were all far higher than those in the corresponding period in 2019. The classification of the population is mainly composed of students under the age of 15. The top three reported cases were Fucheng District (20 118, 35.94%), Youxian District (6 394, 11.42%) and Jiangyou District (5 800, 10.36%). 10 126 samples of ILI were received and detected, with a positive rate of 19.53%, the positive rate of ILI samples was mainly students under 15 years old. The dominant strains of influenza viruses showed an alternating trend over the years, and A (H3) was the predominant type in 2019. Except for 2 A (H9) strains detected in 2021, the rest were all BV strains. Due to the impact of COVID-19 in 2020, the positive detection rate was low throughout the year. 43 outbreaks of ILI were reported, which were mainly occurred in winter, and most of them were in primary schools. Conclusion: From 2019 to 2021, the characteristics of cases, ILI, pathogen surveillance and outbreak events of influenza in Mianyang City are basically the same, with students under 15 years of age and schools remaining the key population and sites of concern. the importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions for influenza prevention and control is further evidenced by the low incidence of influenza during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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School-aged children, as a developmental stage, are a group at high risk for mental health issues, particularly during this pandemic of COVID-19. Children may be perpetrators, witnesses, or victims of violence or irregularities perpetrated directly or through social media. This community service activity is designed to improve the mental health of children during the COVID-19 pandemic through early detection, prevention and early treatment of mental health issues through parental and teacher empowerment programs. When children learn online and do more activities at home with their families, there are many factors that affect children's mental health. For instance, cyberbullying, addiction to gadgets and the Internet, withdrawing from family interactions, anxiety, dishonesty and discipline in the performance of duties and children as witnesses and victims of abuse by those closest to them. This is not widely known by the school, teachers, counsellors and parents clearly, which results in the state of the child getting worse. Through an empowerment program that was conducted with socialization and training on early detection, preventive efforts and early treatment of mental health problems among school-aged children, they can discover early deviations that occur and take preventive measures with early treatment efforts. Henceforth, through this empowerment program, teachers and parents work together to carry out counselling activities and reflection sessions to understand the issues faced by students so that they can intervene immediately. Teachers and parents can work as a team to help children improve physical and mental health through online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Lost learning during a pandemic causes students' learning outcomes to drop. An alternative solution to the child's learning problem is learning with modules. Learning modules suitable for elementary school students need to be developed. Therefore, the study aimed to: (1) Discover the condition of elementary school students learning during the pandemic period;(2) Investigate the importance of independent learning;(3) Examine the use of modules as a supporting tool;(4) Delivering module illustration that can be developed for students. Furthermore, this study used a qualitative method with a phenomenology approach, and elementary school students, parents, and teachers serve as informants. The data were collected by interview and document, using the citation technique known as snowball citation, while the data was analyzed using data triangulation. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) Students felt uncomfortable learning during the pandemic;(2) Independent learning was important for elementary school students;(3) All parents agreed that the module could facilitate independent learning during the pandemic period;(4) The module illustration developed for elementary school students was completed by examples or real-life application. In cooperation with relevant individuals, the learner can make the decisions necessary to meet their learning needs and comprises internal and external components. Reflective skills are a combination of the learner's cognitive, metacognitive, and affective abilities, which we will refer to as their "internal components." The learner's "external environment" refers to the learning facility, time available, and peer and facilitator interaction. It contained learning material, objectives, question model, and evaluation and was understandable, attractive, and pleasing to learn. Also, this was completed by video link, adapted to the learning needs, and contained character development.
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Objective: To investigate the implementation status of school lunches and simplified school lunches after a state of emergency was declared due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and the content of a simplified school lunch.
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Objective: To examine the changes of depressive and anxiety symptoms in school-aged children during home confinement and to identify possible influence of learning and lifestyle behaviors on mental health changes.
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Objective: To understand the online learning-related screen use duration and screen types in school-aged children in Shanghai during the COVID-19 epidemic.
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Oral health problems in children aged 5-9 years in Indonesia are high, it's about 28.9% (Riskesdas, 2018). One of the prevention efforts is the oral health promotion. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, oral health promotion was still carried out by implementing health protocols, avoiding direct contact, and using online communication media. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of dental health telepromotion with animated video media on the knowledge and skills of teethbrushing among elementary school children. The method used in this research is Research and Development, with the intention of developing animated videos for learning media. The population in this study were children of elementary school age in RT 05 RW 06 Padangsari Banyumanik Semarang totaling 30 children. The results of this study indicate that the level of knowledge of respondents before treatment is mostly in the poor category (57%), and after treatment, all respondents (100%) have a good level of knowledge. Before the skill treatment, most of the respondents (63%), included in the category of less skilled, but after the treatment, all respondents (100%) became skilled. There is a difference in knowledge about teethbrushing before and after giving animated videos, with pValue = 0.000, with an increase in the number of respondents who have good knowledge by 57%. There is a difference in teethbrushing skills before and after giving the animated video, with pValue = 0.000, with an increase in the number of skilled respondents as much as 63%.
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BACKGROUND: Covid-19 (coronavirus) has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of the respiratory disease in Wuhan, China;declared as a global health emergency on January 20, 2020. Symptoms of covid include cough, fever, tiredness, sore throat etc. Children below the age of 1 are at a high risk of infection due to less maturity of the immune response. AIM: To create awareness among parents related to the risk of exposure of their children to Covid-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 parents of school-going children with different cultural backgrounds. A pre-validated and reliable questionnaire containing 10 questions was distributed to the participants. The questionnaire contained the question items pertaining to their knowledge and awareness related to the risk of exposure of their children to Covid-19. Parents who had more than 1 child were excluded from the study. Statistical analysis was performed in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 23.0 (IBM, Chicago, USA). Descriptive statistics were performed to present the frequency distribution of the options of the question items. Also, Pearson's chi-square association was done to analyze the knowledge and perception of participants. RESULTS: From the present study it was assessed that children from cities are more healthy(25.71%) and are aware of covid and its consequences than children in towns and villages (28.57%). Most of the children follow safety measures such as wearing masks, using hand sanitizer, maintaining social distance, etc while playing outdoors/in public places. CONCLUSION: By creating awareness among parents about covid and its consequences we can reduce the fatality rate of newborns or children with weak immunity. By this study we emphasize the importance of hygienic practices that are supposed to be followed during Covid to ensure a healthy life.
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Objective: The current situation and associated factors of primary and middle school students' screen time and related eye hygiene in different periods before and after COVID-19 were investigated, so as to provide a scientific basis for taking targeted measures of preventing and controlling myopia among those students. Methods A total of 11 402 students were selected from 24 primary schools, 18 junior high schools and 16 high schools by multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method. And a questionnaire survey was conducted among students and their parents to understand students' screen time and screen hygiene behaviors and related factors in different periods before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. Results The rate of screen overuse was 7.26%, 9.12% and 35.30% during school days, weekends and home study, respectively. The overuse rate of mobile phones and tablets at home increases with the increase of school stage. Totally 16.30% of students use mobile phones for online learning. The screen overuse rate of those who have not been diagnosed with myopia was lower than that of those who have been diagnosed during home study(OR=0.77, P < 0.05). The higher the parents' educational level was, the lower the screen overuse rate of children during the weekends became(P < 0.05). In any period, the high proportion of screens used in homework and poor home screen eye environment increased the risk of screen overuse and poor eye hygiene (P < 0.05). Parental good behavior was conducive to reducing the risk(OR=0.65-0.97, P < 0.05). When the family had regulation on the screen use time, the implementation of laxity would increase the risk of screen overuse (OR=1.18-2.48, P < 0.05). Conclusion The screen overuse rate of urban primary and middle school students during home study is high, and a certain proportion of students still use mobile phones for online learning. The proportion of screens used in homework, home screen eye environment and screen use management are related to screens overuse. More attention should be paid to those with myopia and low educational level of parents. Coronavirus;Fixation, ocular;Behavior;Regression analysis;Students.
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Objective: To explore the impact of public opinion on the attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination among parents of middle school students aged 12 to 17 years. Methods A total of 477 parents of middle school students were recruited online and offline. News reports and virtual online comments on the vaccination of children aged 12 to 17 were provided for them to read, after which all the parents reported their attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination for their child. Results Totally 73.55% of parents were willing to vaccinate their child. In addition, public opinion showed significant impacts on parental attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination (F=67.89, P < 0.01). After reading positive opinions (4.02..0.91), parental willingness to vaccinate was significantly higher than other comment conditions;Under the influence of negative opinions (2.56..0.88), parents' willingness to child vaccination was significantly lower than other opinion groups;There was no significant difference (P=0.77) between the neutral opinion group (3.71..0.79) and the control group (3.68..0.81). Conclusion The attitude towards child COVID-19 vaccination among parents of middle school students might be influenced by public opinions. Guidance on public opinion is key for child COVID-19 vaccination improvement.
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Schools across the United States and the world have been closed in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. However, the effect of school closure on COVID-19 transmission remains unclear. We estimate the causal effect of changes in the number of weekly visits to schools on COVID-19 transmission using a triple difference approach. In particular, we measure the effect of changes in county-level visits to schools on changes in COVID-19 diagnoses for households with school-age children relative to changes in COVID-19 diagnoses for households without schoolage children. We use a data set from the first 46 weeks of 2020 with 130 million household-week level observations that includes COVID-19 diagnoses merged to school visit tracking data from millions of mobile phones. We find that increases in county-level in-person visits to schools lead to an increase in COVID-19 diagnoses among households with children relative to households without school-age children. However, the effects are small in magnitude. A move from the 25th to the 75th percentile of county-level school visits translates to a 0.3 per 10,000 household increase in COVID-19 diagnoses. This change translates to a 3.2 percent relative increase. We find larger differences in low-income counties, in counties with higher COVID-19 prevalence, and at later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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COVID-19 limitation strategies have led to widespread school closures around the world. The present study reports children's mental health and associated factors during the COVID-19 school closure in France in the spring of 2020. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data from the SAPRIS project set up during the COVID-19 pandemic in France. Using multinomial logistic regression models, we estimated associations between children's mental health, children's health behaviors, schooling, and socioeconomic characteristics of the children's families. The sample consisted of 5702 children aged 8-9 years, including 50.2% girls. In multivariate logistic regression models, children's sleeping difficulties were associated with children's abnormal symptoms of both hyperactivity-inattention (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) 2.05;95% Confidence Interval 1.70-2.47) and emotional symptoms (aOR 5.34;95% CI 4.16-6.86). Factors specifically associated with abnormal hyperactivity/inattention were: male sex (aOR 2.29;95% CI 1.90-2.76), access to specialized care prior to the pandemic and its suspension during school closure (aOR 1.51;95% CI 1.21-1.88), abnormal emotional symptoms (aOR 4.06;95% CI 3.11-5.29), being unschooled or schooled with assistance before lockdown (aOR 2.13;95% CI 1.43-3.17), and tutoring with difficulties or absence of a tutor (aOR 3.25;95% CI 2.64-3.99;aOR 2.47;95% CI 1.48-4.11, respectively). Factors associated with children's emotional symptoms were the following: being born pre-term (aOR 1.34;95% CI 1.03-1.73), COVID-19 cases among household members (aOR 1.72;95% CI 1.08-2.73), abnormal symptoms of hyperactivity/inattention (aOR 4.18;95% CI 3.27-5.34) and modest income (aOR 1.45;95% CI 1.07-1.96;aOR 1.36;95% CI 1.01-1.84). Multiple characteristics were associated with elevated levels of symptoms of hyperactivity-inattention and emotional symptoms in children during the period of school closure due to COVID-19. Further studies are needed to help policymakers to balance the pros and cons of closing schools, taking into consideration the educational and psychological consequences for children.
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The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had changed drastically the social life of children and youth, including their ability to adhere the physical activity (PA) recommendations. This study highlights the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 lockdown on children's daily physical activity, sedentary behaviors and sleep duration. It also determined the impact of this specific context on adiposity and cardio-metabolic indicators among children aged from 9 to 12 years old from Constantine-Algeria. Children were divided into 2 groups according to the practice of PA, a cross-sectional study was conducted at 2 different times. The first time, was before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, where the pre-lockdown lifestyle and PA data were collected via a validated questionnaire. The second time was during the lockdown, where the same questionnaire was asked to children's parents via telephonic interviews. A significant decline in the frequencies of PA patterns by 3.8 hours has been observed in the study population. In parallel, sedentary behaviors has been significantly increased by 4.5 hours in equal proportions between swimmers and sedentary children per day. Half of the children decreased their night sleep duration by an average of 54 minutes. This new lifestyle context induced by the lockdown was associated with an increase in body weight (3.69..0.9 kg) and body mass index (2.1..0.48 kg/m2) in the whole study population. These results might increase the prevalence of cardio-metabolic complications associated with overweight and obesity observed in the population of children and adolescents in Constantine in the near future.
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Background: COVID-19, novel coronavirus, has been identified by the World Health Organization as a pandemic that causes highly transmittable respiratory disease. Lack of awareness about COVID-19 preventive measures represents a global threat. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of nursing instructions about COVID-19 preventive measures on knowledge and reported practice of hospitalized school age children. Materials and Methods: One group pre-posttest quasi-experimental design was utilized to carry out the current study. Setting: The study was conducted in the medical wards at Cairo University Specialized Pediatric Hospital CUSPH. Sample: A purposive sample of 100 hospitalized school age children was included in the study. Data Collection Tool: Structured interview questionnaire designed by the researcher contained seventy-eight questions related to children's demographic data, general knowledge about COVID-19, symptoms, modes of transmission, treatment and prevention was used.
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BACKGROUND: In the wake of the adverse situation we are currently facing globally due to the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, it is normal to feel stressed, confused, and scared but what is abnormal is to turn this to panic. Phobias are more pronounced than fears. They develop when a person has an exaggerated or unrealistic sense of danger that may be evolved to experience panic attacks. AIM: Our objective was to identify the prevalence of most common phobias as well as panic disorder (PD) due to the coronavirus pandemic among Egyptian primary schoolchildren and their determinants. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2015 schoolchildren from 3 to 6 grades in three governorates of Egypt. Seven types of phobias were investigated: Agoraphobia, phobias from darkness, animal, untreatable illness (mainly coronavirus), insects, height, and social phobia. The child's self-reported PD symptoms were assessed using DSM-IV with psychiatric diagnoses. RESULTS: Almost two-thirds of the surveyed primary schoolchildren have phobias of the low score (<9) versus one-third who had high phobias score (61.% vs. 35%, respectively) with highly significant difference (p < 0.001). The most prevalent phobias were from heights (66.5%) followed by darkness (60.0%). The important predictors of phobias were: Being a male child, living in an urban area, and studying at governmental school at fifth or sixth-grade residence. The prevalence of PD due to the corona epidemic is very high, it is reported by almost half of the surveyed primary schoolchildren. Fear of losing any of their family members, especially grandparents, was reported to be the highest PD symptom (97%). CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Phobia from heights and darkness was the most common. The prevalence of PD due to the coronavirus epidemic is reported to be very high. Calming down children who might be experienced with a phobia that is triggering their PD is recommended.
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The rise of the global overweight and obesity epidemic can be attributed to the rise of modern retail and food service delivery sectors in all countries, has led to changes in the agricultural and food systems, thereby increasing affordability and access to foods and less nutritious drinks. The consequences of school closures on the economic security and well-being of children, their families and their communities are likely to reverse the progress in education over the past decades. Prioritizing children's return to school and using school as a platform to improve nutrition and health will have a huge impact on future generations. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been more impetus and opportunity to bring together governments, donors, organizations and communities in education, health and nutrition. Countries must reframe their efforts to ensure health and nutrition services begin in the first 1,000 days and continue for the next 7,000 days. They must focus their attention on middle school ages globally so that students have access to quality, healthier meals and better learning opportunities. This will strengthen the initial investments in the first 1,000 days and lay a strong foundation for the future of children and their society.
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Introduction: Social distancing mandated by COVID-19 so as to slow viral spread resulted in school closures in 2020. Reopening schools could be safe if accompanied by precautionary measures. This paper describes the events leading up to school closures in Malta with reference to San Andrea independent school, and the measures and contingency plans created by the school during Malta's soft lockdown and summer holidays for safe school reopening.
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South Africa has a well established National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP). Despite rescheduling the mealtime to two hours after the start of the school day to accommodate learners who come to school on an empty stomach, a gap still exists as many children start their learning day with low energy and concentration levels. A costeffective, energy-dense snack served at the start of the school day can be a solution to sustain learners until the main meal is served. Cross-sectional surveys were used to determine the snack preferences of children and the product development process was used to develop a suitable snack. An energy-dense peanut butter biscuit was developed based on those surveys as well as a scoping review of previous snack studies. The energydense developed product provided 1388kJ (61.0%) of energy from fat, 688kJ (30.2%) of energy from carbohydrates and 201kJ (8.8%) of energy from protein per 100g. The biscuit conformed to microbial testing standards. Shelf-life analysis projected a shelf-life of five weeks fresh and five months in food grade packaging. Sensory results showed that there was no significant difference in sensory scores across gender (p=0.691) and age (p=0.706). More of the learners (n=56, 69.1%) found the biscuit to be 'Super good' than the other ratings (p < .0005). When compared with similar biscuit products currently on the market, it was found that the developed biscuit was the most reasonably priced. The developed biscuit has the potential to serve as a solution to hidden hunger for children that come to school on an empty stomach. This versatile snack solution has potential for continuity of use even during periods of national crisis as with COVID-19, when learners' nutritional needs may be most vulnerable.