A Study of Hypertension and Obesity Among the Adult Population in a Rural Area Near NCT Delhi.

Background: The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India is substantial and is estimated to increase, in rural areas too. Objectives: To study hypertension and obesity among the adult population in a rural area near Delhi. Materials/methods: A complete enumeration of the total population was done in Mandola village of Uttar Pradesh by conducting a house to house survey. After collecting information based data, the height, weight and blood pressure of all available family members were recorded as per standard procedures. Results: Data was collected from a total of 1124 persons. While there were 15.5% current smokers, 4.4% were consumers of alcohol. The prevalence of current smoking was 35.4% among the males and 3.3% among the females. It was observed that 20.2% of the males and 27.2% females were obese. Among the females, obesity was more likely among the housewives (p<0.001) and those of older age (p<0.001). The proportion of hypertensives was 16.0% in males and 13.0% in females. Among the males, hypertension was more common among the smokers than non-smokers (18.5% vs. 14.5%) and among current alcohol users than non-users (22.4% vs. 15.1%). We found several subjects, of both genders, who had both hypertension as well as obesity. Conclusion: The present study has shown that the burden of NCDs such as hypertension and obesity is quite substantial in a rural population.

Depression, anxiety and stress among adolescent students belonging to affluent families: A school-based study.

Objective. To study depression, anxiety and stress (DAS) among adolescent school students belonging to affluent families and the factors associated with high levels of DAS. Methods. 242 adolescent students belonging to class 9-12th selected for the study. DASS-21 questionnaire was used for assessing DAS. Results. The scores in the three domains (DAS) were found to be remarkably correlated. It was seen that depression was significantly more among the females (mean rank 132.5) than the males (mean rank 113.2), p=0.03. Depression (p=0.025), Anxiety (0.005) and Stress (p<0.001) were all significantly higher among the ‘board classes’ i.e., 10th and 12th as compared to the classes 9th and 11th. All the three (DAS) were found to have an inverse relationship with the academic performance of the students. Depression and Stress were found to be significantly associated with the number of adverse events in the student’s life that occurred in last one year. Conclusion. A significant proportion of the students were found to be having high levels of DAS and several important factors were found to be associated with them. Proactive steps at the school-level and community-level and steps for improved parent-adolescent communication are needed for amelioration of the problem.

Hygeine Status and Food Handling Practices among Street Food Vendors in East Delhi An Observational Study.

Practices regarding personal and food hygiene of 100 street food vendors in East Delhi were studied by dose observations. A general physical examination of all vendors and bacteriological examination of nail scrapings of every alternate street food vendor was done. Majority of vendors (77%) were less than 40 years of age and 58% were illiterate. Only 13% of the vendors were found to wash fruits and vegetables before use. Most of the vendors used dirty utensils for storage of food (82%), 73% were storing food in uncovered utensils and 78% did not wash utensils before reuse. With regard to personal hygiene, majority (85%) did not wash hands before preparation, 93% did not follow this practice before serving. Most vending sites (61%) were observed to have dust and 49% had files in the environment. Majority of vendors had unkempt nails (87%), 22% had boils and 9% open wounds on hands. Microbiological examination of nail scrapings revealed K. pneumoniae and E. coli as the commonest pathogens isolated. There is II felt need for generating awareness regarding personal and food hygiene among the vendors, and a system for regular health examination of the vendors.

A Study of Personal Values in Adolescents.

Personal Values are the reflection of the highest principle of mind and thought, and can even be said to be a part of spiritual domain of the individual. They play a very important role in the motivation of adolescents to varied behaviours. This study was done on 90 students to evaluate their religious, social, democratic, aesthetic, economic, knowledge, hedonistic, power, family prestige and health values. The results did not show any differences between male and female students on any of these values. This shows that no gender difference exists in ethical beliefs and both male and female use almost similar processes for evaluation of ethical situations.