The health of enrolled and non enrolled children of school age in Tanga, Tanzania

The health of 227 children enrolled at primary school was compared with tha t of 214 non enrolled children living in rural Tanga, Tanzania. No consiste nt difference was observed with respect to prevalence and intensity of para sitic infection (hookworm, T. trichiura, A. lumbricoides, S. haematobium an d P. falciparum). Since enrolled children were as commonly and as heavily i nfected as non enrolled children, treatment of enrolled children would he e ffective in reducing transmission throughout the total population. Non enro lled children were more stunted (P = 0.0001) and wasted (P = 0.0001) than e nrolled children and also tended to be more anaemic (P = 0.080) showing tha t poor nutrition is not only associated with delayed enrolment but continue s to be associated with non enrolment throughout the school age years. Give n that treatment has the greatest impact on the most malnourished children, additional measures to extend treatment to non enrolled children would be justified. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.