Over 90 Percent of Children Screened in Hanoi Found to Have Health Issues
Comprehensive health screenings conducted in Hanoi identified at least one abnormality in the overwhelming majority of children under the age of 18.
Health screenings conducted on more than 169,000 children under the age of 18 in Hanoi revealed that 90.3 percent of the children had at least one unusual health problem. Experts emphasized that this situation poses serious challenges for child health services.
Details of the Health Screening
Dr. Ngo Quang Hung, Chairman of the Hanoi Pediatric Association and Director of the Hanoi Children's Hospital, shared important data at the 2nd Hanoi Child Health Conference.
According to the information provided, more than 220,000 children applied for examinations in areas utilizing the hospital's management software.
Most Common Ailments
At least one abnormal health issue was detected in 152,970 children, corresponding to 90.3 percent of the children examined.
Dental and maxillofacial diseases ranked first at 67.7 percent, while vision problems were observed at a rate of 26.1 percent.
Nutrition and Weight Problems
According to the research results, the rate of overweight and obesity among children was recorded at 20 percent.
Malnutrition problems were identified in 11.6 percent of the children who participated in the screening.
Scope and Limitations of the Data
Experts noted that the available data only covers children in specific wards and regions.
It was stated that these results do not fully represent all children in Hanoi and that the scope of the screening needs to be expanded.
Future Child Health Targets
It was stated that childhood diseases for the 2026-2030 period in Vietnam should be examined in four main areas.
Non-communicable diseases, mental health, complex infections, and newborn screenings were determined as priority areas.
Global and Local Disease Trends
It was stated that non-communicable diseases affect more than 2 billion children and young people worldwide every year.
In addition, it was reported that infectious diseases such as measles and hand, foot, and mouth disease continue to pose a threat.
School Health and Digitalization Recommendations
It was argued that the digitalization of school health checks should be expanded to all municipalities and wards.
The establishment of monitoring systems to ensure data sharing between hospitals, health centers, and schools was requested.
Ministry of Health Assessment
Dinh Anh Tuan, Director of the Maternal and Child Health Department under the Ministry of Health, said that positive results have been achieved in child health.
However, it was emphasized that stunting due to malnutrition in mountainous regions continues to be a source of concern.