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om the two stud~es dld not d~ffer w~dely although the prevalence recorded by the
paramed~cal staff was marginally lower (except for worn1 lnfestatlon and eye dlsorders)
T~IS suggests that the paramedical workers and teachers when properly tracned could
become valuable components of the School Health System (SHS)
They could be
tra~ned to look for more dlsorders lhke vlsual and heanng defects The scheme could be
extended to mcddle and hlgh school ch~ldren as well
[i) Role of qualitative studies in identifying the health problems in school aqe
- children
Although cross sectional morbidity survey showed nutritional and infectious disorders
especially anemla and worm infestation to be important morbid~ty in school age chlldren
in this study, people of the village felt that fever, headache, abdominal pain and
respiratory Infections were the most common health problems in them These were also
the most frequent morb~dity obtalned from recall history in the cross sect~onal morb~d~ty
survey and ~n the cohort study Thls dlspar~ty IS perhaps due to the etic and emlc
perspectives ~f problems 'Etlc' descnptlons are based on the categor~es created by the
investigator whrle 'emrc' descnptlons are based on the natlve categor~es of actlons
(Spradley,l979). Recall history and cohort study could also be cons~dered a seml
qualitative approach because the quest~ons were open ended and gave scope for the
respondents to think and react in their own way. Qualitative studies also showed that
People had a different perception about the cause of many of these illnesses because
If whlch medical help was not sought. For example, worm infestat~on, an important
noibidity in this study, was not considered a disorder at all by the villagers. Many Of
lem thought that it was a natural event occurring in all rice eaters. It was felt that