Health status of adolescent school going children with special reference to waist hip ratio

Background: A school is a key location for educating adolescents about health, hygiene and nutrition. Adolescence is period of critical development and transition. These changes have important implications for health. Aims and objectives of the stud was to study the role of WHR in nutritional assessment in adolescent school children and compare it with BMI as an assessment tool and to study nutritional status of municipal and private school.Methods: It was a cross sectional study conducted in 10-17-year-old school children in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. There were 2 private and 2 municipal schools selected randomly by purposive sampling. Child absent or not well on the day of study were excluded.Results: Incidence of obesity is 42.9% and 57.1% in municipal and private school respectively. Incidence of overweight is 47.2% and 52.8% in municipal and private schools respectively. (2.9%) adolescents had BMI range of 25-29.9 which is considered to be overweight. However, the percentage of overweight and obese was raised at 28% and 23.5% respectively when classified as per WHR.Conclusions: The difference between incidence of overweight and obesity in private and municipal schools were not statistically significant. A combination of increase BMI with increase WHR is a stronger indicator of increase health risk.

Adolescents: a paediatrician's or an adult physician's domain? clinical profile of Indian adolescents admitted in pediatric ward and those admitted in other than pediatric ward

Background: Study of the clinical profile and no. of admissions of adolescents admitted in pediatric ward and other than Pediatric ward.Methods: A Prospective Study, conducted during August 2018 to March 2019, at a tertiary care teaching hospital, including age group 10-19 years.Results: Out of 1645, highest adolescents' admissions'' 749 (46.37%) were to medical ward, 2nd highest in the Pediatric ward which was 317 (19.6%), followed by general surgical ward which was 312(19.3%).'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Highest among late adolescents, infectious diseases were still the leading cause of hospitalization of adolescents as it constituted 68.4% (902) of admissions to other than pediatric ward followed by surgical cause[135(10.2%)] followed by accidents [5%(66)].Conclusions: Infectious diseases are more common in adolescents compared to developed countries. The shift in hospitalisation of adolescents from pediatrics to general medicine at about 14 years is illustrated in present study and reflects the need of better implementation of clinical policy on the age divide.

A study of gross congenital malformation at birth

Background: A congenital anomaly is a structural anomaly of any type that is present at birth. Congenital anomalies may be induced by genetic or environmental factors. Most congenital anomalies, however, show the familial patterns expected of multi-factorial inheritance. The aims and objective of this study were to study the incidence of visible congenital malformations at birth, to study risk factors, to find associated internal malformations.Methods: It is a retrospective cross-sectional study carried out in a tertiary care hospital affiliated to a medical college. The Inclusion criteria include all new-borns delivered in the hospital with visible congenital malformations examined within 48 hours of birth. Extramural babies were included if they had presented within 48 hours after birth. The Exclusion criteria include still births were excluded from the study.Results: Percentage of congenital malformation was 1.32%. Most common systems involved were musculoskeletal system (46.34%) followed by genitourinary system (21.34%) and gastrointestinal system (14.02%).Conclusions: All Babies with gross congenital malformation should be screened for internal malformation. The incidence of CNS malformation has reduced than observed in previous studies which suggest awareness about antenatal folic acid supplementation. Other than CNS anomalies, other system anomalies were not diagnosed antenatally despite antenatal ultrasound being done in maximum number of mothers, which suggest use of 3D or 4D scan antenatally.

Study To Assess The Awareness, Perception And Myths Regarding Swine Flu Prevention In Students Of Nursing College at Tertiary Care Centre In Ahmedabad.

Abstracts: Background: Medical and paramedical health workers are especially vulnerable to swine flu infection as they come in regular contact with patients. They can also serve as important channels for communication of swine flu awareness to the general population. This study was carried out to find out the knowledge, attitude and practices amongst the nursing students of a tertiary care centre. Methodology: A hospital based cross sectional study carried out in February 2015 amongst the students of nursing college affiliated to a tertiary care centre in Ahmedabad. A pretested questionnaire was given to the students with multiple choice questions regarding swine flu virus, its symptoms, prevention etc. Results: A total of 108 students responded to the questionnaire. Of these maximum 76% respondents had received information from hospital. Majority of respondents knew about causative organism. Cough(81%), cold(93%) and fever(77%) were believed to be the commonest symptoms of swine flu. Handwashing as a preventive measure was known to only 45% while use of mask was known to 90%. 43% knew about vaccine availability and 83% were scared of swine flu commonest reasons being fear of death and fast spread. Conclusion : In the present study hospital, TV and newspapers were the major sources of information. It is therefore essential that these media spread correct information amongst the general population as well as the paramedical workers who are at risk for swine flu. The paramedical staff’s confidence and active participation thus remains critical in enforcing any prevention and control strategy against the disease. Paramedical workers had good knowledge, attitude and practice regarding swine flu in the current study. This should be utilized to spread knowledge and awareness amongst the general population.12 Focus on key areas like hand washing with soap and water and availability of vaccine, knowledge regarding which was lacking in the present study, should be immediately addressed. This represents the mass hysteria and panic amongst the general population regarding the disease and its prevention. It needs to be explained that swine flu, with proper precautions can be prevented and epidemic can be controlled through awareness and correct practices.

Clinical profile and outcome of children presenting with poisoning (a hospital based study).

Introduction: Poisoning though an important cause of morbidity and mortality in children, has received little attention over the years. Objective : To study the profile of acute poisoning in children less than 15 years age admitted to pediatric ward and PICU of a teaching hospital of Ahmedabad. Materials And Methods : Retrospective analysis of hospital records of pediatric patients admitted with a definite diagnosis of poisoning over a three year period-September 2009 to September 2012.Patients were profiled according to age, sex, poison consumed, symptoms, interval between exposure and presentation, duration of hospital stay, nature of poisoning and demographic profile.Results : A total of 176 cases were analysed completely. The mean age was 4.5 years with an age range of 0.25 to 15 years. The overall male female ratio was 1.17:1. The most common poison was kerosene used as fuel, incidence of insecticide poisoning was low. The mortality was 5.1%. Most patients were from urban background( 83.5%), as many as 59.65% patients presented within first 4 hours after exposure. Accidental poisoning was found in 98.59% of patients rest being suicidal. Mean duration of hospital stay was 3.3 days and vomiting was the commonest clinical manifestation. Conclusion : Poisonings in children in our setup are caused by substances which should not be accessible to children. This fact calls for prospectively designed multicentric studies all over the country to assess the epidemiological and preventive properties of poisoning in children.

Assessment of immunization status of 1000 children attending pediatric OPD of a teaching hospital in Ahmedabad.

Objective: Assessment of immunization status of children attending Pediatric OPD of a tertiary care hospital and the common causes for not giving the vaccines on time. Methods: A cross sectional study was performed with the help of a semi- structured questionnaire. Vaccination status was confirmed referring to the records of immunization available with the mothers. Site and age-specific details of the vaccines administered were also probed to ascertain the vaccine given whenever required. Results: Immunization coverage was 52.7% which was less than the national average of 61%. Coverage was highest for BCG and OPV zero vaccines (94.4%). Significant reductions in the coverage of the first and third doses of DPT, OPV and Hepatitis B vaccine were observed. There was absolutely no coverage of dT/ TT vaccine. Most common reasons for denial of vaccination were found to be negligence (35.8%) and ignorance (14.8%). The immunization coverage was higher in residents of rural areas (72.32%) and in children of literate mothers (76%). There was no significant reduction in eventual booster doses of DPT. Conclusions: Day by day, universal immunization is increasing but gaps are still visible even at tertiary care settings. Efforts are needed to strengthen the already existing policies. Aggressive sensitization and behaviour change drives targeting mothers can go a long way in achieving the same.