No kidding: Your child can hit a raw nerve & suffer hypertension

HYDERABAD: A pilot study on 980 children from Hyderabad revealed that hypertension and serious psychological issues were more common than thought of. The study was done by ‘Choice Foundation’ over two months in a school in the city. Many children also had health issues such as partial deafness and vision issues.

While the study will be done on more private and government schools, experts said that the statistics were alarming.“Of the 980 students screened, 292 had some issues. Further assessment of these 292 students by experts from National Institute of Mental Health, Secunderabad, showed that 34 of them had significant psychological issues that needed attention,” said Dr Satish Ghanta, developmental paediatrician and director Choice Foundation.
Serious psychological issues included learning difficulties and borderline intelligence behavioural issues.
“Almost all the kids with these problems were found to be obese. They stand the risk of developing other comorbid conditions such as diabetes and cardio-vascular diseases. Such kids typically have a shorter life span if problems are not detected in time,” added the doctor.