A study on prevalence and socio demographic factors associated with overweight and obesity among high school children of Raichur city

Background: Overweight/obesity among children is an emerging public health problem in our country. Overweight/obesity is a form of development-driven malnutrition that is emerging among all ages and socio-economic groups. Childhood overweight/obesity is a risk factor for later adult diseases and is associated with impaired health during childhood itself which may continue untreated for many years. The belief that overweight/obesity was the problem of developed countries alone is no longer true. India is one of the developing countries showing emerging and rising trends of overweight/obesity. Methods: A cross sectional study was undertaken in high schools of Raichur city. Data was collected by interviewing 1900 study subjects using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire and by physical examination. The data was analyzed using percentages, proportions, odds ratio and Chi-square test with the help of Epi Info 7 software. Results: Prevalence of overweight and obesity among high school children of Raichur city was found to be 4.57% and 5.11% respectively. Significant association of overweight/obesity was found with gender, age, religion, socio-economic status, parent’s education, type of diet and physical exercise. Conclusions: Considering association of overweight/obesity with various risk factors, preventive measures like lifestyle modifications, changes in dietary pattern and regular exercise should be promoted in these age group children.

Clinico-epidemiological profile of fever cases admitted during epidemics of Chikungunya fever.

A study of Clinico-epidemiological profile of fever cases admitted during epidemics of Chikungunya fever was carried out in Latur city of Maharashtra State. A total of 238 fever cases were investigated in relation to clinico-epidemilogical characteristics. Maximum fever cases admitted during epidemics of Chikungunya fever were in the age group 16-60 years (74.8%). There was no sex predominance. The commonest symptoms of admitted fever cases were sudden onset of high-grade fever (99.5%), followed by joint pains with tenderness on examination (90.7%), headache (58.4%) and body ache (23.5%). Average duration of illness was 3.01 days (S.D.=0.38). There was no mortality among affected fever cases. Family or neighborhood clustering of cases was observed in 66.8% and 31.5% of the cases respectively. The important environmental factors were presence of open water tank in the house (68%), infrequent cleaning and drying of non drinking water containers (once in 11 days) and abundance of mosquitoes in the house. (45.7%).

Record based study of snake bite cases admitted at Shri Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College & Hospital, Yavatmal (Maharashtra).

The present hospital record based cross-sectional study was undertaken with the objectives of finding out the epidemiological profile of snake bite cases admitted in Shri V. N. Govt. Medical College and hospital during the period of 1998-2002. The data was collected from the filled case papers of snake bite cases, through medical record section under the department of PSM and analyzed manually. The outcome of snake bite treatment was noted and defined. Proportional case rate of snake bite cases varied from 6.8 per 1000 admissions in 1998 to 6.0 per 1000 in 2002. Snake bite cases were seen among Males (69.4%), 97.4% of cases were agricultural workers and labourers. The cases seen during the period of June to Aug (35.5%) followed by Septeber to November (33.5%). About 78.7% of the victims either got relived or cured with a experienced mortality 4.3%.