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eing 12.6 years when compared w~th girls from rural areas where it was 13.9 years
(Joseph et a1.,1997). Thus the age at menarche could be an indirect indicator of a girl's
nutrilional status.
(iii) General disorders
Compared to the under five's, the school age children are generally healthier. Both
hospital and community based studies have been carried out to study the morbidity
pattern in them
The data available on the health status of school age children are
heterogeneous. Different studies include different age groups, focus either on a single
illness or on general morbidity conditions. A community survey near Calcutta showed
that the average illness in children between 6-14 years of age was 3.21girl and 3.7lboy.
It was hlghest in chlldren between 1-3 years of age and lowest in children between 6-14
years (Choudhun and Choudhuri,l962). The average disorderlchild in other studies
var~ed from 1.3 to 3.2 (Gupta et a1.,1973; Ananthakrishnan et a1.,1987). Surveys have
shown that the percentage of children suffering from some disorder or the other to vary
from
46.5% In Lucknow to 83.0% in Bombay (Bansal et a/.,1973, Tragler,l981:
Khanna et a1,1995).The morbidity rate was higher in children below 10 years of age
(87.1%) than in older children (67.7%; Bansal et a1.,1973). Some of the common
causes of morbidity as revealed by different studies were nutritional disorders, diseases
of the skin, hair, eye, ear, nose and throat, respiratory system, dental wries,
helminth~asis, tuberculos~s, convulsions and anemla (Gupta et a1.,1973, Bansal et
a1,1973, Aganval et a1.,1976; Tragler,l981; Ananthakrishnan et a1.,1987; Bhattacharya
and Tandon,1992, Khanna el a1.,1995;Table 5.1). The prevalence of these disorders
as revealed by different studies showed a wide variation. The reasons for thls vanatlon
have not been looked into. The morbidity in school children from Pondicherry as