ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assess the nutrient intake of adolescent girls belonging to low socio-economic group of rural Rajasthan. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, using probability proportionate to size, cluster sampling method. SETTING: 18 villages of Jaipur district. SUBJECTS: 941 adolescent girls of age 10-18 yr. METHODS: Anthropometric measurements for height, weight, mid-upper arm circumference, triceps skin fold and chest circumference; 24 h recall method to assess nutrient intake. Nutrient intake was compared with Indian Council of Medical Research recommended dietary allowances. RESULTS: The diets were deficient in calories by 26 to 36%, and in proteins by 23 to 32%. Nutritional status as assessed by body mass index revealed that 8.1% of adolescent girls suffered from chronic energy deficiency (CED) grade I, 6.6% grade II CED, and 78.8% grade III CED. About 73.7% of subjects suffered from anemia and 43.6% had signs of vitamin B complex deficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Intervention strategies are needed to improve the dietary intake of adolescent girls so that their requirements of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals are met.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena , Anthropometry , Developing Countries , Female , Humans , India/epidemiology , Male , Poverty/statistics & numerical data , Protein-Energy Malnutrition/diagnosis , Rural Population/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
This study was undertaken on 117 consecutive patients referred to a head and neck oncology clinic at a major hospital in New Delhi. 89.5 per cent patients were in clinical stage III or IV at the time of referral. The prevalence of pain was 83.8 per cent with a mean pain duration of 6.2 +/- 5.9 months and a mean pain intensity of 5.0 +/- 2.7 on a modified numerical rating scale ranging from 0 to 10. The mean intensity of pain was not significantly different for age groups or stage of the disease but patients with oro-pharyngeal cancers had significantly higher pain scores than patients with hypopharyngeal cancers (4.6 +/- 3.0 vs 2.9 +/- 2.5, P < 0.05).
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Head and Neck Neoplasms/complications , Humans , Middle Aged , Pain/epidemiology , Prevalence , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Adolescence is period of rapid growth and development. The present study was undertaken to assess the nutritional status of 941 adolescent girls, aged 10-18 years belonging to Scheduled Caste communities in rural Rajasthan, using the probability proportionate to size sampling procedure. Data on 93 married adolescent girls was analysed in detail. Nutritional status of the subjects was assessed by anthropometry, dietary intake and by clinical examination of nutritional deficiency disorders. Anthropometric measurements were recorded for height, weight, chest circumference, MUAC and TSF using standardised techniques. On comparing the present study's data with ICMR's study data (1956-65) it was found that there has been a significant improvement in the height, weight and chest circumference of the adolescent girls but the values were below the well-to-do group study data. Dietary intake was assessed by 24 hours recall method. The dietary intake was compared against ICMR's RDA. It was found that the diets were deficient in calories by 30 to 40% in proteins by 25 to 37%, by 39 to 55% in iron and by 10 to 34% in vitamin A. 78% of the subjects suffered from various grades of anaemia and 40% of the subjects had B-complex deficiency.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Anthropometry , Child , Deficiency Diseases/etiology , Diet Surveys , Female , Humans , India , Marriage , Nutritional Status , Pregnancy , Pregnancy in Adolescence , Rural PopulationABSTRACT
A study was conducted to assess exclusive breast-feeding, continued breast-feeding, bottle-feeding, predominant breast-feeding, timely complementary feeding and other breast-feeding practices in 818 children in the age group of 0-3 years belonging to the Schedule Caste communities of Haryana. The exclusive breast-feeding rate was 0.15 and the predominant breast-feeding rate 0.75 in children < 4 months. Timely complementary feeding rate was 0.42. The continued breast-feeding rate at 1 year and 2 years was 0.84 and 0.58, respectively. The bottle-feeding rate, ever breast-fed rate, timely first-suckling rate and exclusive breast-feeding rate by mother were 0.09, 1.0, 0.0 and 0.15, respectively. The median duration of breast-feeding was 16 months.