CNMI-wide child health survey kicks off

A survey to determine the health condition of children in the CNMI kicked off yesterday with four research teams sampling households in Garapan, Gualo Rai, and San Jose.

The teams, composed of volunteers from the Department of Public Health, Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research Extension and Education Service, and the University of Hawaii, prepared for the survey last week by participating in a five-day, hands-on training on how to conduct household surveys.

Each team is composed of at least five team members and they are set to march into the villages of Kagman today.

Patricia Coleman, one of the program coordinators from NMC-CREES, said the teams would conduct the survey in Navy Hill, Susupe, and Kagman tomorrow. She said two teams will wrap up their survey of Kagman as well.

On Thursday, Coleman said, two teams will walk in the Chalan Kanoa area. One team will proceed to San Antonio and another team will do “mop up” duties on previous areas requiring more information.

Coleman said all the teams will “invade” the San Vicente area on Friday for an entire day of surveying and on Saturday would perform assessments on all the surveys they conducted on Saipan.

If they see that the teams did not meet the sampling requirement in one area, Coleman said, the extra day would provide them more time to complete the survey.

Coleman said the survey, which would identify whether children in the Commonwealth are at risk to nutrition-related diseases and deficiencies, would also be held in July on other parts of Saipan, and on Tinian and Rota.

The teams start the fieldwork at 9:30am and end at 6pm during the survey dates. The survey would have a random sampling of 420 children from ages 6 months to 10 years old.

Among the health screenings being conducted are blood pressure, cholesterol, and hemoglobin level. The teams will also be conducting dental exams to identify decaying, filled, and missing teeth, as well as to check whether any of the children have inflamed or bleeding gums.

The teams are also checking if the children have any skin rashes and determine early signs of puberty. NMC-CREES will collect dietary and physical activity information of the children, while the University of Hawaii will conduct the “anthropometrics” of the children, where they will check the children’s weight and height to calculate their “Body Mass Index” and arm circumference.

Referrals would be made for any abnormal screening levels observed and parents will immediately be informed about the findings, said Coleman. Survey results will also be formally presented to the community after being analyzed.

Principal investigator Rachel Novotny from the University of Hawaii said the perks for participating in the survey is free health screening for the children without parents having to go to a clinic. Results will be given in an instant for the parents’ reference.