Objective  To examine the prevalence rate of common diseases among primary and high school students in Baotou city for evaluating school health promotion and providing evidences to the development of disease prevention measures.

  Methods  We collected the data on annual physical examination of 689 513 person-times of students from all primary and high schools in 10 banners/counties/districts of Baotou municipality of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 2014 to 2016 and analyzed the prevalence of poor eyesight, malnutrition, obesity, and permanent teeth caries among the students.

  Results  The chronic diseases with the top four prevalence rate were poor eyesight (37.22%), permanent teeth caries (12.53%), obesity (8.03%), and malnutrition (3.67%) for all the students during the period. The prevalence rate of obesity increased significantly in 2016 (P < 0.05) but that of poor eyesight, permanent teeth caries, and malnutrition showed a significantly declining trend (P < 0.05 for all). The prevalence rate of poor eyesight, obesity, and malnutrition were significantly higher (all P < 0.05) but the prevalence rate of permanent teeth caries was significantly lower (P < 0.05) among the high school students than those among the primary school students.

  Conclusion  The prevalence rates of common diseases are relatively high, especially for poor eyesight and permanent teeth caries, among primary and high school students in Baotou city. The results suggest that interventions on these diseases need to be carried out among the students.