A study of the prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight in private and government schools of Meerut city

Background: As per WHO childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century, it is a global problem affecting many low and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings. Childhood obesity affects adulthood and becomes the cause of non-communicable diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Overweight and their related diseases are preventable with early intervention and lifestyle modifications. Here we aimed to find out the prevalence of overweight and obesity of school going children of Meerut city.Methods: Four Hundred children from four schools of Meerut city were studied. Age, weight, height, socioeconomic status, food habits, and family history were recorded for further analysis.Results: Out of 400 children, 7% were overweight and 4% had obesity. We observed that obesity was more prevalent in private school going students. Leisure time and fast food are the major causes of obesity.Conclusions: A total of 11% of school going children were overweight and obese which is alarming and should be tackled in a more proactive and urgent manner. This study concludes that there is dire need of awareness against the junk foods at the same physical activities, games, health education and awareness programs should be included in the education system for students, parents, and teachers to understand and fight the obesity.

Lifestyle disease risk factors among first year medical students in Bareilly.

Background & Objectives: Life style related risk factors are mainly implicated for increased burden of cardio- vascular diseases. Early identification of these risk factors especially among medical students is essential, considering their role as future physicians and role models in public health intervention. Prevalence of lifestyle related risk factors among the medical students of Rohilkhand Medical College and Hospital, Bareilly was studied. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out among the first year medical students of Rohilkhand Medical College and Hospital, Bareilly after taking ethical clearance from institutional ethical committee and informed consent of students. A structured pretested questionnaire was used to collect detailed information about the subjects’ self-reported behavioral and lifestyle associated risk factors for (Tobacco use, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and type of diet), the measurement of subject’s blood pressure and anthropometrical parameters. Results: Out of the 99 respondents, nearly 30.3% of students had a family history of hypertension while 41.4% had a family history of diabetes. Nearly one third were found to be overweight. The prevalence of hypertension was 24.2%. Nearly 14.1% respondents had a smoking habit while 8.1% consumed tobacco in smokeless form. About 10.1% students admitted that they had consumed alcohol during the last one year. Only one third of the respondents did regular physical exercise. A higher proportion of respondents (53.4%) were vegetarians. Most of students (83.8 %) added extra salt to their cooked food items. Also a higher proportion of respondents had an adverse food intake (56.6%). Conclusion: Early identification of lifestyle risk factors and their modification among medical students is required.

Management of hypertension: focus on current treatment algorithms.

One of the main obstacles in the treatment of hypertension is the largely asymptomatic nature of the disease, even with marked elevation in systemic blood pressure. This disconnect between symptoms and long term adverse consequences has earned hypertension the designation, “silent killer”. Fortunately, the number and spectrum of agents available to treat patients with hypertension have expanded dramatically over the past 2 decades. Current treatment algorithms recognize that any given drug will likely have effect on more than one of the interrelated systems that regulate circulatory functions.

Study of sense of coherence health promoting behavior in north Indian students.

Background & objectives: With advances in knowledge about health promotion, public health professionals are in search for the determinants of personal health behaviours. This study was carried out to explore the level of engagement of north Indian students in health promoting behaviours; to determine their sense of coherence scores; and to ascertain the determinants of health promoting behaviours of these students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done in four randomly selected colleges of Chandigarh during 2007-2008 in 200 students (100 male, 100 female). Their health promoting lifestyle profile (HPLP) and sense of coherence (SOC) scores were estimated using interviews. The data were analyzed using Pearson's product moment correlation, and also stepwise linear regression analysis. Results: Mean HPLP and SOC scores of the students were 138.69 and 130.87, respectively. Females cared more about their health than males. Male students were more involved in physical activities. There was a linear correlation between the total SOC and HPLP scores (r=0.3). Female students (63%) consulted doctors more than males (50%) and washed their hands more regularly (P<0.05). Only 13 per cent students practiced yoga regularly. Female students had more meaningful relationships with friends and had more faith in God. Regression equation revealed that the two independent variables (SOC and age) accounted for 10.8 per cent of the variance in HPLP. Interpretation & conclusion: Students with higher SOC scores had higher HPLP scores. Female students were more health conscious than male students. In general, college students in Chandigarh had a good health promoting lifestyle and good sense of coherence.

Antihypertensive Drug Therapy

Aggressive treatment of hypertension has been proved to reduce morbidity and mortality. Data from recent clinical trials indicate that, for all stages of hypertension, the target BP should be a maximum BP <140/90 mmHg, with diastolic BP values as low as 70 mmHg. For patients with diabetes mellitus or chronic renal disease, this target value should be even lower, <130/80 mmHg. As significant morbidity and mortality attributable to hypertension occur in patients who are not diagnosed as having hypertension but whose blood pressure is in prehypertension range, 120~139/80~89 mmHg, lowering BP levels in this group is recommended as well, with lifestyle modification or drug therapy for some indicated patients being first-line therapy. Because controlling BP to <140/90 mmHg often requires use of two or more agents, selection of drugs for combination therapy should be based not only on antihypertensive efficacy, but also on compelling indications and tolerability of the regimens. This review presents the latest findings on the antihypertensive therapy and emphasizes the importance of decreasing BP per the JNC-7 guidelines.

Effects of changes in lifestyle and biological parameters on blood lipid levels in middle aged men

BACKGROUND: Death from coronary heart disease is increasing and this study is to evaluate the effect of longitudinal changes of lifestyle and biological parameters on the blood lipid levels, as the risk factor of the coronary heart disease. METHODS: Total cholesterol and total cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol ratio (atherosclerogenic index) as an indicator for risk of coronary heart disease were examined longitudinally in a sample (n = 463) of middle-aged men by 2 years. The independent variables were body mass index, smoking, alcohol, exercise, diastolic blood pressure, uric acid. All data was drawn from questionnaire, blood chemistry, and review of chart. RESULTS: ANOVA test according to categorized variables revealed that for total cholesterol, uric acid (P<0.01) and diastolic blood pressure (P<0.01), and for atherosclerogenic index, and body mass index (P<0.001) were significant. In correlation analysis, total cholesterol was associated with uric acid (r=0.20, P<0.001), diastolic blood pressure (r=0.15, P <0.001) and body mass index (r=0.03, P<0.05), and for atherosclerogenic index so was body mass index (r=0.18, P<0.001). In regression, uric acid (beta=6.07, P <0.001), diastolic blood pressure (beta=0.36, P <0.01) for total cholesterol, and body mass index (beta=0.22, P <0.001) for atherosclerogenic index were significant. But changes in alcohol consumption, smoking, and exercise were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: In order to reduce risks of coronary heart disease, the more aggressive medical intervention for the uric acid, DBP, and BMI, would be essential. This study was done without medical intervention. So, further study with intervention, adequate duration and intensity for parameters modification is required.