Port Blair, Nov. 27: A school health camp was conducted at RGT Public Vidyalaya, RGT Road, Port Blair on 25th November, 2022 for students from Nursery up to Class X with special focus on nutritional assessment and personal hygiene. The camp was organised by Dr. Ajay Raj, Dr. Priyanka Yadav and Dr. Aanchal Anand from Dept. of Community Medicine at ANIIMS along with students from MBBS Batch 2019, under the guidance of Dr. Pragya Sharma, Director, ANIIMS.

The program commenced at 9:30 am and continued till 2.00 pm. Around 300 students were screened in the camp in which a general physical (head to toe examination) was conducted including anthropometric measurements and BMI calculation. Following this, appropriate counselling was done and referrals to relevant departments at GB Pant Hospital were made for further evaluation and management.

The session concluded with an interactive health talk on the role of nutrition and personal hygiene in prevention against diseases and promotion of a healthy lifestyle from an early age. The students participated enthusiastically in this session and displayed a sound understanding of healthy habits that were taught to them.

Most common health issues noted among the students were poor dental hygiene followed by malnourishment, followed by ear infections. Based on these observations subsequent health camps will be planned in collaboration with Departments of Dentistry, Paediatrics and ENT for a detailed on-site evaluation and management.