Hygienic evaluation of physical development and health status of adolescents studying in Yerevan high schools

In the present era of technological progress the problem of maintaining health of children and adolescents is more than important. Adolescent age is considered one of the most important stages during human development. The big biological and psychosocial changes taking place during the second decade of life impact all areas of adolescent life. A large number of recently performed studies have shown worsening of health status of students during study period as well as unfavorable changes in physical development of the growing generation.
Our work aimed at studying and giving hygienic evaluation of the physical development and health status of adolescents studying at high school in Yerevan city. We examined 1382 students (56% girls and 44% boys) of 10th and 12th grades of high schools (aged 14, 15, 17, 18 years).
Based on the data obtained from medical examination and evaluation of physical development indicators of the high school students, we performed complex assessment of their health status.
As a result, at the start of education (10th grade) only 7.4% of children were included in health group I; 31.9% of students were practically healthy but had one or several morphofunctional abnormalities. Chronic disorders were reported in 60.7% of students. The health status of graduating students was worse: at high school graduation the number of students in the group I decreased by almost half (p<0.05) while that in group III increased 1.2-fold. In fact, we report that by completing education not only the number of healthy children decreases but they progress from functional abnormalities to chronic disorders.