Health and characteristics of the school environment in boys and girls in the city of Córdoba, Argentina

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Environments are understood as the physical and psychosocial conditions that enable or hinder life in relation to other vital manifestations, including health. Experiences in school influence health, and health is related to school life.

OBJETIVE: To identify the characteristics of the school environment and health in primary school students attending a privately-run school in the northeast of the City of Córdoba, 2022.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Observational, cross-sectional and retrospective study. Health was assessed based on a stratified sampling of 182 Health Certificates and the environment in its three dimensions (physical, psychosocial and food) based on the analysis of documents and an adaptation to the green leaf questionnaire of school environmental diagnosis carried out to teachers. Descriptive analysis of the variables of interest and a test of difference in proportions (NC95%) were performed.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: For the development of the research, international recommendations on ethics and good practices in human health research were respected. The study had the authorization of the educational institution for the use of the database, protecting the identity of the people. Since the data used were from secondary sources and do not contain information that would allow individuals to be identified, approval by an Ethics Committee was not required.

RESULTS: Physical environment: institution more than one hundred years old, but with infrastructure adapted to people with disabilities; Psychosocial environment: outdoor activities are offered and the institution is involved in the search for solutions to the problem of bullying; Food environment: presence of topics on nutritional food education, although with a high supply of processed and ultra-processed products, and to a lesser extent, natural products. 92% of the schoolchildren presented a complete vaccination card, 18% had altered blood pressure and 41% were overweight. A significantly higher proportion of schoolchildren with altered blood pressure was observed in those who were overweight (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The results show incipient work on the environment; a high prevalence of excess weight is observed and vaccine coverage is lower than the target (95%). It is recommended to develop initiatives of health-promoting schools for a comprehensive approach.