The problem of tobacco, alcohol and drugs was investigated in various boarding schools in Switzerland. The number of smokers among 297 pupils in the Canton of Obwalden rose from 53% in the 12-14 year old children to 58% (15-17 years) and to 60% (18-20). In the St. Galler Oberland, 39% of the 12-13 year old children smoked and 48% of those aged 14-15 years; 75% of the younger and 64% of the older pupils preferred a glass of milk to a glass of alcohol. In the Canton of Neuchatel, 53% of 174 pupils aged from 15-17 were smokers; 10% had already tried drugs once. In the Canton of Graubunden, 33% of the 13-15 year old pupils and 34% of those aged 17-19 from a total of 166 smoked regularly or occasionally; none of the younger, but 8% of the older pupils had already tried drugs once. Of 412 Swiss pupils in boarding schools, 35% were smokers at the age of about 15-16, 52% at 17-18 and 68% at 19-20 years of age.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1975

[Disease statistics and absence from school].

As a result of the evaluation of 1085 school absences in a retrospective study at the Aarau Technical School, it was found that frequency of absences was significantly (p less than 0.01) less in summer with 2.3 percent (boys) and 2.0 percent (girls) missed lessons than in winter with 3.5 percent (boys) and 3.2 percent (girls). There were medical reasons in 58.7 percent; every tenth case was an accident. A comparative study in 1495 schoolchildren aged 6-16, in the Aargau showed that in this collective, there was an average of 1273 school absences per month, so that about 1.8 percent of the monthly school time was lost. A further comparative study in the City of Zurich revealed that about a third more time was lost than in the country.

Absenteeism↗

PubMed1975

[Ice hockey accidents].

The present study is based on 2680 ice hockey accidents encountered in Switzerland over a period of 5 years: 1880 injuries during matches are compared with 800 that took place in training. Age: the athletes injuried during training were younger that 20 in 40% of cases; 38% of injuries in matches occurred to players aged between 20 and 24. 25% of accidents were caused by blows from the stick, particularly as a result of "high sticking"; 5% by skates; 17% by the puck (hard rubber); 17% by collisions; the remainder by crashing against the barrier, falls on the ice, body checking, etc. The most frequent injuries (42%) involved head and face: 740 dental injuries about of the 1460 facial injuries and 160 cases of concussion. The injuries affected: the legs in 21% of cases; the feet in 11%; the arms in 11%; the hands in 7% and the trunk in 8%. The commonest types of injuries were crushings and bruisings; during matches, 13% of the 1880 lesions involved fractures, a quarter of which were the result of collisions. Preventive measures would require all players to wear a helmet to protect their head, face and mouth; protective barriers should be sufficiently high; the game and rules should be taught from school age on and fair play should be instilled.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1975