title: Implications for school-based health programmes of age and gender patterns in the Tanzanian primary school. The Partnership for Child Development.
abstract: This paper examines children's potential access to school health services by analysing data on the demographic structure, enrolment patterns and reported causes of early school-leaving in 347 schools in Tanga Region, Tanzania served by a school-based health programme. The analysis indicates that net enrolment ratios have risen over the previous 6 years, particularly among children under 10 years. However, in 1994 children were still much older than expected for a basic school population: 81% were adolescents (> or =10 years) and the mean age was 12 years. These data suggest that schools can provide equitable access to health education and school-based health services for a majority of children, even in a low-income country, and that the primary school population is predominantly adolescent and would benefit from health programmes targeted at that age group.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012572:School Health Services; D012737:Sex Factors; D013636:Tanzania