Nutritional status of tribal preschool children in three ecological zones of Madhya Pradesh.

A health and nutrition survey was conducted on tribals in three ecological zones of Madhya Pradesh namely Jhabua (West Zone), Bastar (South Zone) and Sarguja (East Zone) taking into consideration the relative contribution of agriculture, forest and a combination of both to the economy, respectively. The consumption of both foods and nutrients appear to be worse among preschool children of Jhabua compared to Bastar and Sarguja. Clinically overt forms of Protein Energy Malnutrition and other vitamin deficiency signs were strikingly low. However, 4% of children in Sarguja exhibited signs of goitre. Both by extent and severity of malnutrition, the children of Jhabua appear to be worse followed by Bastar and Sarguja.

Nutrition, health and psychosocial profile of institutionalized children.

A study was undertaken to assess the health, nutrition and psychosocial profile of Institutionalized children in four States--Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal. A sample of 3,822 children from 70 institutions in 6-18 years age group formed the subjects of the study. It was observed that the destitute children were mainly taken care of in three types of institutions, viz, Voluntary, Government Aided and Government run institutions. Calorie deficiency and deficiency of Vitamins and minerals characterized the diets of these children. In general, there was no deficit of protein in their diets. Growth wise, these children were retarded both in height and weight compared to standards. However, they fared better in comparison to their age and sex counterparts in the rural and urban poor. Psychosocial profile of these children indicated that the prevailing environment in the institutions is less conducive for intellectual stimulation but not so for the development of skills of self-help, locomotion, socialization and imagery.

Anemia and physical fitness of school children of rural Hyderabad.

Physical fitness status of 119 school children was assessed by administering a simple field level 'running test' without any sophisticated equipment. Moderately anemic children had taken significantly longer time (6.25 min) to complete the 'running test' distance of 1.6 Km. Children with normal hemoglobin (Hb) values and those with higher level normal Hb values took shorter times (7.42 and 7.06 min) to complete the test distance. Deficits of weight for age, height for age and weight for height did not exert independent influence on the 'running time'. Anemic children in the sub-groups of each category of nutritional anthropometric indicator, performed poorly. Anemia proved to be a handicap either in the presence or absence of anthropometric deficits. Mild and moderate anemia imposed handicaps on physical endurance and fitness of school children irrespective of other nutritional deficits.

Sister chromatid exchanges in congenital cataracts.

A total of 25 patients with bilateral congenital cataracts, from three aetiological groups i.e. rubella (6 patients) hereditary (6 patients) and undetected aetiology (13 patients) were studied for sister chromatid exchanges (SCE). SCEs were markedly raised in the rubella groups as compared with age sex matched controls. The other two groups also showed raised SCE, more so in hereditary group.

Dermatoglyphic profile in congenital cataracts.

Forty-five children with congenital cataract cases were studied for patterns and compared with age sex matched controls. The patients showed marked differences in different dermatoglyphic traits. The intra uterine aetiological groups i.e. rubella, hereditary and undetected aetiology, showed variations in mainline terminations. Rubella group showed increased angle atd.

Evaluation of national nutritional anemia prophylaxis programme.

An evaluation of the National Nutritional Anemia Prophylaxis Program was carried out in Andhra Pradesh. About 8,000 respondents from about 5,754 households were interviewed and 487 pregnant women were covered for haemoglobin estimation in six selected districts. Nearly 19 per cent of the pregnant women had received folifer tablets, while about 1 per cent of child beneficiaries were receiving the tablets. The acceptance of the programme by the community appeared to be satisfactory. The reasons for poor coverage were reported to be inadequate and irregular supplies. Results indicated that the health functionaries were not properly oriented towards the programme, as many of them were not aware of all the beneficiaries under the programme. Chemical analysis of the tablets indicated that about 30 per cent of the tablet samples had iron content less than the expected levels, and none of them had expected levels of folic acid content.

Primary school teacher as a primary health care worker.

School children (1608) were examined for three items (nails, scalp hairs and teeth) relating to personal hygiene and relevant infective conditions from two sets of villages i.e. one set where primary school teacher was working as primary health care worker (Group I) and the other set where Community Health Volunteer (CHV) was delivering primary health care (Group II). The objective was to evaluate the efficiency of school teachers' role vis-a-vis CHVs' in imparting health education to school children. Out of 1608 school children, 801 belonged to Group I villages and the remaining 807 to Group II villages. From the results, it was evident that children of Group I villages were better with respect to all the items related to personal hygiene and infective conditions excepting scalp infections, where difference was not statistically significant, indicating teachers' superiority over the CHVs' in imparting health education to school children.

Nutritional profile of preschool children of armed forces families around Hyderabad.

Three hundred and fifty three preschool children (1 to 5 years) belonging to armed forces families of non-officers (who often come from rural background) stationed at Military Station, Golconda, Hyderabad were studied for their clinical examination and anthropometric status. Diet survey by oral questionnaire was also carried out on a sub-sample of 48 children. The heights and weights of children from families of armed forces were far superior to those of rural Indian preschool children, but they were marginally shorter and lighter than those of well-to-do Hyderabad children. About 92% of the children had weights above 80% of Harvard median. The practical implication of these findings is that the children of rural families, with the usual socioeconomic constraints, when provided with steady income and comprehensive health care can be expected to achieve a growth status which is almost comparable to that of well-to-do children.