Is obesity a problem among school children?

Reduction of premature mortality due to noncommunicable diseases through prevention and control forms the core issue of target 3.4 of sustainable development goals. Childhood obesity is an important public health challenge today. The current study was carried out in a large military station of North East India to find out prevalence of obesity among schoolchildren using World Health Organization body mass index-for-age charts for boys and girls. A total of 793 schoolchildren comprising of 328 girls and 465 boys between the age groups of 6 and 19 years were included. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among girls was 9.76% and 1.22%; and among boys, it was 10.97% and 3.23%, respectively. Overweight and obesity were more common among boys as compared to girls under the age of 13 years but trend changed afterwards. Lower prevalence of overweight and obesity found in our study could be because of availability of healthful environment in schools.

Risk Assessment of Diabetes Using the Indian Diabetes Risk Score: A Study on Young Medical Students from Northern India

CONTEXT

Identification of risk factors of diabetes is required among youth as diabetes in young persons is now spreading in epidemic proportions. Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) is a validated and cost- effective tool to identify risk of diabetes among population.

AIMS

Present study was conducted among young medical students to assess risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) using the IDRS and to study association of risk of diabetes with other factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 290 first grade medical students from July 2017 to December 2017. A semi-structured interview schedule was developed for data collection. Written informed consent was taken.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED

SPSS version 25 was used for data analysis. 'P' < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

RESULTS

A total of 290 medical students were included in the study. IDRS categorization revealed 77%, 22% and 1% students in low-, moderate- and high-risk category, respectively. Statistically significant association of moderate-high diabetes risk with male gender, positive family history of diabetes, no/mild physical activity and body mass index (BMI) ≥23 kg/m² was seen.

CONCLUSION

Present study findings has brought forth that large number (23%) of young medical students were in moderate-high risk category of developing T2DM and health professionals should be more vigilant in young obese males with minimal physical activity and positive family history of disease. Hence, there is a pressing need for bringing out behaviour change communication among young medical students so that risk reduction strategies and lifestyle changes can be implemented in early years of their lives.

Effect of informed consent on patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery and living donor liver transplantation and on their relatives in a developing country

Background

Informed consent is a systematic process for obtaining permission before conducting a healthcare intervention. In a developing country, gaining informed consent is generally perceived to be a ritual only to comply with legal requirements. The present study examined this by assessing the process of informed consent in patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery or living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and their relatives, based on their comprehension and overall satisfaction, in India.

Methods

All patients undergoing any gastrointestinal surgery or LDLT procedure between August 2015 and July 2016 and their relatives were included, and were administered a structured questionnaire 5 days after the procedure.

Results

The majority of patients (94·2 per cent) could recall the nature of their disease, the surgery performed (81·6 per cent) and anticipated complications (55·6 per cent). Among their relatives, these proportions were 97·8, 87·3 and 58·5 per cent respectively. Recall was associated with age, occupation and education among both patients and relatives. Patients undergoing LDLT, their donors and their relatives had better recall than those who had other gastrointestinal procedures (P < 0·001). Many patients found the process of informed consent useful and reassuring.

Conclusion

The details and risks of an operation were understood by most of the patients, especially those undergoing liver transplantation. Patients from developing countries can generally understand ‘informed consent’, and value it.

An Epidemiological Study on Burden of Hearing Loss and Its Associated Factors in Delhi, India

INTRODUCTION

Hearing loss is the second most common cause of years lived with disability (YLD). The present study was conducted with an objective to determine the prevalence, severity, and sociodemographic correlates of hearing loss among people aged 3 months and above in selected areas of Delhi, India.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in selected rural and urban areas of Delhi among population aged 3 months and above. Of the total sample size of 664, 85 study subjects (17 households) were taken from the rural area, and 579 (116 households) were taken from urban areas. The hearing test and ear examination was carried out using handheld oto-acoustic emission (OAE) in children <5 years of age and pure tone audiometry in individuals above 5 years of age. SPSS software was used for data analysis. Chi-square test was used to analyze difference between proportions.

RESULTS

Overall prevalence of hearing loss was 25.1%. Conductive hearing loss was present among 61 (10.3%) subjects, mixed hearing loss was found among 5 (0.8%) subjects, and sensorineural hearing loss among 94 (15.8%) subjects. On OAE, 62 (89.9%) children passed the test, and 7 (10.1%) were referred. Increasing age, female gender, and low education were significantly associated with hearing loss.

CONCLUSION

There was high prevalence of hearing loss in the study sample. Urgent interventions are required to identify individuals with hearing loss so that its serious complications can be reduced.

Outbreak investigation: Salmonella food poisoning

BACKGROUND

An outbreak of food poisoning was reported from a Military establishment on 29 May 2011 when 43 cases of food poisoning reported sick in a span of few hours.

METHODS

A retrospective-prospective study was conducted. Data regarding the onset of symptoms, presenting features and history of food items consumed was collected. A detailed inspection of the mess for hygiene and sanitary status, cooking and storage procedure, and rodent nuisance was also carried out.

RESULTS

A total of 53 cases of food poisoning occurred between 29 and 31 May 2011. All cases had symptoms of diarrohea followed by fever (96.2%), headache (84.9%), abdominal pain (50.1%), nausea and vomiting (49.1%) and bodyache (39.6%) respectively. Based on the Attributable Risk (AR = 46.67%) and Relative Risk (RR = 4.5, 95% CI = 1.22-16.54) Potato-bitter gourd vegetable served during dinner on 28 May 2011 was incriminated as the food item responsible for outbreak.

CONCLUSION

Symptomatology, incubation period and presence of rodent nuisance suggested contamination of Potato-bitter gourd vegetable with non-typhoidal Salmonella spp.