Analysis Of Physical And Mental Health Status And Influencing Factors Of Rural Primary School Students

China is in a period of transition as it moves from developing to developed country.Ensuring the continued development of industry,increasing labor productivity,and transforming the pattern of economic development are necessary to avoid the"middle-income trap." About one-third of China's future labor force will be born in rural areas,which are generally low-income and have poor economic conditions.These conditions can have serious negative impacts on students' physical and mental health;they have long been considered as factors retarding human capital development in and restricting the development of China's western regions.In order to develop large reserves of human capital,it is therefore important to improve the overall quality of life for populations living in China's poor rural areas.Accumulating human capital is critical for promoting sustainable economic development.In 2011,the Chinese goverment launched the "Rural Compulsory Education and Student Nutrition Improvement Plan" in order to improve students'physical and mental health.Although several studies have described either students,nutritional health or mental health,there has been no empirical research since the 2011 policy change that used large sample sizes,and analyzed related factors affecting students' physical and mental health.Researchers from the Rural Education Action Plan(REAP)randomly selected 4199 fourth and fifth grade students from 101 rural primary schools in Gansu,Qinghai,Ningxia and Shaanxi provinces.They surveyed these students about conditions related to nutrition and health,anemia,and mental health in order to provide a large sample that could serve as a scientific basis for the government to implement more effective policy regarding students' physical and mental health.This paper uses data from REAP's questionnaire and test.Through quantitative analysis,qualitative analysis,and comparative analysis methods it describes the current physical and mental health status and influence factors of rural primary school students.The research content primarily includes:(1)describing the status of recent,chronic,and general malnutrition among primary school students;(2)describing anemia prevalence among sampled primary school students;(3)understanding primary school students' psychological health;(4)relatedness analysis of the factors affecting sampled primary school students' physical and mental health;(5)policy recommendations for further improving nutritional and mental health for students in poor rural areas.The main conclusions of this paper are as follows:(1)The overall malnutrition rate among sampled primary school students is about 14.5%.The average rate of malnutrition for boys was 5 percent lower than girls;boys' nutritional health conditions are therefore slightly better than girls'.Malnutrition prevalence varies across the four sample provinces:Qinghai's malnourishment problem was the most severe,with 20%of students suffering from malnutrition,whereas in Shaanxi only about 11%of students are malnourished.(2)Strictly adhering to WHO(2007)malnutrition guidelines(which regard third-level emaciation as the standard for malnutrition),this paper finds that about 20 percent of primary school children suffer from malnutrition-induced anemia.Anemia prevalence among boys is on average 6%lower than among girls;anemia prevalence varies among provinces.(3)73.86%of primary school students have psychological problems,and the learning anxiety positive detection rate is 64.58%.The positive detection rate for boys is 7%lower than for girls.Students in Qinghai had a positive detection rate 15%higher than average,suggesting that health may have a certain effect on mental health.(4)Regression results showed correlations between student age,gender,and boarding status with student malnutrition,anemia status,and mental health.Increasing student age by one year corresponded with a 7%increase in psychological health problems,a 1%increase in malnutrition,and a 3%increase in anemia prevalence;girls are more malnourished and anemic and have worse mental health than boys.In addition,4.2 percent of boarding students and 3.1 percent of other students have more serious psychological health problems than other students.Based these conclusions,this paper puts forward the following suggestions:(1)improving the flexibility of the "rural compulsory education nutrition improvement plan",so that areas with different economic conditions are offered different nutrition and education solutions.(2)The government and schools should strengthen the construction of psychological counseling rooms;train specialists in the field of mental health education;and develop a mental health education curriculum based on local conditions.(3)Schools and the education department should organize nutritionial health and mental health education activities for students.