Abstract

The author has conducted survey on the status of physical growth and morbidity of the children for christian children's fund programme, as a means of collecting basic data for the anticipated establishment of a health planning. A total 345 children ages 9 to 16 underwent C.C.F. programme while as a control, a total of 480 children of same ages from the middle-class school children in Jeonju area was also studied. As results of survey conducted for a period of one month (form July 1 to 31, 1974) on a total 429 children in 347 households living in Jeonju area. I. Socio-economic background. 1. By educational status of the children, 39.9 percent of the total children was attending at primary school, 33.8 percent in middle school and 15.6 percent in high school. 2. The greatest proportion of 28.8 percent of the household head were engaged in labor, 17.9 percent in peddler and 13.2 percent in retail. 3. As for the living standard of the households, low class constituted 90.1 percent, middle and high classes only 9.9 percent. 4. 39.5 percent of the households had their own house, 39.1 percent lived in rent deposit house of rooms and 14.6 percent in monthly rented house and rooms. II. Physical growth and nutritional status. 1. The growth of children for C.C.F. programme in terms of height was found to be slightly smaller than the school children. The ages from 9 to 16 correspond to the "secondary growth and replenishment period and this period was regarded to be the one most affected by environmental and nutritional factors of all the other periods of growth and development. 2. The body weight of the children for C.C.F. presented a quite different pattern from that of the school children. The above findings appeared thin-and-long stature from the families with higher living standard while those from the household with low standard of living had a short-and-plump one. 3. According to the values of Rohrer's index, the children of C.C.F. carried a higher degree of 'replenishment' than the children in Jeonju area and adolescence comes later for the girls under C.C.F. programme. III. Morbidity. 1. The monthly prevalence rate was 110.0 per thousand persons for the children under C.C.F. programme. 2. The total number of case was classified by timing of the incidence as follows: 40.0 percent was constituted by diseases carried over from the previous month an d60.0 percent by new incidences. 3. The diseases were broken down by W.H.O. disease classification into the greatest proportion of 39.1 per thousand person constituted by disease f the digestive system.