Objectives To survey the common diseases among primary school students in Zhangqiu district of Jinan and to build scientific basis for their prevention and treatments.

Methods The primary school students of five rural primary schools and five urban primary schools were randomly selected for the common diseases examined such as myopia, obesity and dental caries in 2016 and the result were analyzed.

Results The myopia rate of primary school students was 21.33% and there was no statistical difference between rural and urban children. The myopia rates of male and female students in rural and urban areas were 18.87%, 24.01% and 19.68%, 23.35% respectively. The myopia rates of in girls were higher than that in boys both in rural and urban schools (P < 0.01). The total dental caries prevalence was 16.90% and the rural and urban pupils' prevalences were 26.81% and 12.88% respectively, the dental caries prevalence of rural pupils was higher than that of the urban pupils (P < 0.01). The obesity rate of the total pupils was 19.73%, and the obesity rates in rural and urban pupils were 16.37% and 21.12% respectively. The obesity rate of the urban pupils was higher than that of rural pupils (P < 0.01) and the boys' rates were higher than that of the girls' both in the rural and urban schools (P < 0.01).

Conclusions The myopia rate and obesity rate of primary school students were still at a high level in ZhangQiu area. The parents and schools should foster children' right life and study habits and strengthen physical exercise.