Three years ago the Taoyuan County Government’s Public Health Bureau began offering free health examinations to children between the ages of three and six. They found that more than 45 percent of young children have dental caries and around 15 percent are nearsighted. The bureau urges parents to be wary.
There are approximately 60,000 children between the ages of three and six in Taoyuan County. Starting in 2011 the bureau began allocating an annual budget of NT$30 million (US$995,420), paying for pediatricians and dentists to visit daycares and local communities to administer health examinations to young children. The exams consist of 12 parts — testing eyesight, hearing, teeth, physical development, developmental screenings, eyes, ears, nose and throat, head and neck, chest and stomach, urogenital areas, the spine and limbs and skin. This year the bureau also began offering free echocardiograms for young children with heart problems.
According to the bureau’s statistics, 168,147 visits to children for examinations were made as of last year, placing the screening rate at 91 percent. It was found that more than 85,000 of these visits were made to children with health issues. In other words, for every two children, one was unhealthy.
Photo courtesy of Chen Chi-chung
照片由陳啟中提供
Further analysis of the kids’ abnormal health showed that most of them were not naturally predisposed to the condition. The rate of dental cavities exceeded 45 percent, which was followed by nearsightedness, and both ailments combined occupied more than 60 percent of all health issues.
Chiang Yu-chin, head of the bureau’s health promotion department, says that the primary reason that preschool children generally have cavities is because they do not yet know how to brush their teeth properly, causing poor dental hygiene. For this reason, the bureau last year started offering fluoride treatments once every six months to children under the age of six, Chiang says, adding that she hopes parents will do their best to coordinate with them.
The proliferation of consumer electronics, like TVs, tablet computers and smartphones, are the main reason young children are experiencing abnormal vision, Chiang says. She would like to remind parents that young children’s eyes are still at the developmental stage. Staring at these products all the time increases the prevalence of myopia, which Chiang says can lead to macular degeneration, cause nerve damage to the eyes and permanently damage a child’s vision.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
桃園縣政府衛生局從三年前起,針對三歲至六歲學齡前幼童提供免費健檢,結果發現逾四成五的幼童有蛀牙,約一成五有近視問題,衛生局呼籲家長注意。
全縣三至六歲幼童約有六萬人,衛生局從二0一一年起每年編列新台幣三千萬元(九十九萬五千四百二十美元),由小兒科及牙科等醫師到各幼兒園及村里社區,為幼童提供視力、聽力、口腔、體格生長、發展篩檢、眼睛、耳鼻喉、頭頸部、胸腹部、泌尿生殖、脊柱四肢、皮膚等十二項免費健檢,今年起也對心臟有問題的幼童提供免費心臟超音波服務。
衛生局統計,至去年為止共服務十六萬八千一百四十七人次幼童,篩檢率達九成一,結果發現八萬五千多人次的幼童有健康問題;換句話說,近兩個幼童就有一人不健康。
進一步分析幼童健康異常情形,多數都不是天生的,其中蛀牙率超過四成五,其次則為近視,光這兩項就佔了異常比例近六成。
衛生局健康促進科長江玉琴說,學齡前幼童普遍有蛀牙,主要是因為還不太會刷牙,導致口腔衛生不佳。為此,衛生局去年開始幫未滿六歲幼童提供免費牙齒塗氟,每半年一次,希望家長盡量配合。
她說,幼童視力異常多與電視、平板電腦及智慧型手機等3C產品盛行有關,提醒家長,幼童眼睛處於發展階段,長期盯視3C用品會增加近視發生率,也會造成眼睛黃斑部病變,使視神經受損,對視力造成永久性傷害。
(自由時報記者邱奕統)
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