RESUMO
Developing countries are going through a demographic transition. Non-communicable diseases like hypertension are emerging in epidemic proportions. Education and awareness among people is the key to reduce the burden of the disease. To see the levels of awareness and characteristic of aware and unaware hypertensives, 7630 employees in Shimla town were screened for hypertension. Hypertension was detected in 2535 cases of which 559 (22.05%) were aware. The aware hypertensives were predominantly symptomatic and had higher age and blood pressure than the unaware hypertensives. The aware hypertensives were predominantly overweight. This low level of awareness highlights the need for a comprehensive hypertension education programme to be taken up at the national level.
Assuntos
Adulto , Países em Desenvolvimento , Feminino , Educação em Saúde , Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde , Humanos , Hipertensão/prevenção & controle , Índia , Masculino , Programas de Rastreamento , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , População RuralRESUMO
A cross sectional study of 398 mothers and infants was conducted to assess the age at first breast feeding, and its determinants, in Shimla. We found that the timely first suckling rate was 0.10 in urban group and 0.11 in rural group. The median age at initiation of breast feeding was five hours among urban cases and four hours among rural cases. Most of the infants were breast fed by the age of 24 hours which is a positive sign and is higher than previous studies. Absence of definite trend vs mother's education may be due to other factors. A community-based educational programme to promote early breast feeding is required, along with training on lactation management counselling for health workers. This will help in achieving healthy child development through prevention of childhood malnutrition.
Assuntos
Aleitamento Materno/estatística & dados numéricos , Feminino , Humanos , Índia , Recém-Nascido , Masculino , População Rural/estatística & dados numéricos , Fatores de Tempo , População Urbana/estatística & dados numéricosRESUMO
A cross sectional study of 888 randomly selected subjects in Shimla town was done to determine prevalence of obesity, its relation to age and physical activity. The prevalence of obesity was 21.5% using cut off levels of BMI 25. The prevalence of obesity rose significantly with age. Obesity was less in those having moderate physical activity as compared to those with low and high activity. Primary prevention is required to tackle this disease risk factor through health education focussing on promotion of moderate regular physical activity.