Monitoring health in school, Kerala, India

These are children in a school health programme in Kerala, India. On the left, a child is testing the vision of another child with an eye chart. On the right, two children are using the weight-for-height chart for growth monitoring. As well as monitoring health and growth, school health programmes should aim to improve the children's nutrition. Short term hunger (which results in a child being tired and finding it difficult to concentrate) is common. It can be prevented by families making sure children eat before attending school and by the school providing a nutritious meal or snack. Schools are also convenient places to collect data on growth monitoring. The data can then be used as an indicator of the nutritional status in the community.