Evaluation of the health profile of school dropouts of Urban Slum Inhabitants in Maharashtra.

Background and Objective: The benefits that accrue to a country by having a literate population are multidimensional; it becomes imperative to study the determinants or reasons of school dropouts. Therefore the present study was undertaken to find out the magnitude of the health problems of school dropouts in an urban slum in a metropolitan city. Methods: This study uses a community based descriptive cross-sectional design to identify school dropouts, their health problems, and comparison of these factors with non-school dropouts conducted in an urban slum area after the informed consent from all the participants. Descriptive analysis for socio-demographic factors in dropouts was done using Univariate analysis. P value less than 0.05 was the level of significance. Result: It was evident that the nutritional status of respondents during health check up exhibited a significant difference (p<0.05) when compared to the normal comparison group. The comparison of history of recurrent illness in respondents did not show any significant difference between two groups. Conclusion: In order to minimize the school dropouts there should be a regular medical checkup of children so that the parents are satisfied that their child is being taken care of in the school. Keywords: Health profile, School dropouts, Urban.

Assessment of cardiovascular endurance in swimmers and nonswimmers by comparing resting blood pressure.

Background and Objective: Swimming is often recommended by various authoritative groups as a mode of exercise for the prevention and treatment of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Hence the current study compares the cardiovascular functional abilities with respect to Blood pressure in young freestyle swimmers practicing regularly and non-swimmers. Materials and Methods: The present Study was carried out at tertiary health centre of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai on medical students after the informed and written consent. Sixty male medical students of age group 18 – 25 years fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included. The study was carried out by forming 2 groups. One group was the study group, comprising of 30 students who are swimmers, practicing for at least 3 months regularly with one session of 30-60 minutes duration per day and minimum three days in a week were include in the study group. The control group comprised of 30 students who are non-swimmers. Their Blood pressure was measured using sphygmomanometer. The data was recorded and analysed for the statistical significance using student’s‘t’ test. P less than 0.05 were considered the level of significance. Result: The mean resting systolic blood pressure in swimmers is significantly lower than in non-swimmers and is statistically significant (p = 0.000). The mean resting diastolic blood pressure in swimmers is significantly lower than in non-swimmers and is statistically significant. (p = 0.000). Discussion and Conclusion: Finding ways to initiate and maintain a physically active lifestyle, particularly with older adults, is a challenge to the practitioner. Swimming has been recommended as an alternative to land-based activity, particularly for older individuals, those who are obese or those who have limited mobility. Our finding may have important implications for exercise prescription in Younger and Older subjects.