ABSTRACT
Introduction: India is facing a dual burden of malnutrition with high prevalence of underweight and increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity. Methodology: This study reports anthropometric findings (body mass index, waist circumference [WC], and waist-hip ratio [WHR]) from the screening of 3296 students admitted during 2018-2019. Results: Majority of the students were male (70%), with a mean age of 18.57 years. About 31% and 19% of students were underweight and overweight, respectively. Given sex-specific cutoffs for WC and WHR, about 5% and 21% of students were at substantially increased risk of metabolic complications. About 14.5% of normal and underweight students were also found to be at substantially increased risk of metabolic complications. Multivariate analysis found increasing age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.88-0.98) and being male (OR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.62-0.88) to be protective factors against underweight. We did not find any statistically significant correlation for overweight, for WHR among males, and WC and WHR among females. Conclusion: It has been noted that the college environment increases the risk of weight gain. Hence, it makes a case to periodically study changes in anthropometric measures through a longitudinal study, and accordingly develop life cycle-based interventions for prevention/management of undernutrition, obesity, and related complications.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Adolescents are vulnerable to HIV for many reasons. Unfortunately, there are little data available on adolescents and young adults who have contracted HIV. Only few studies have been conducted in India with an aim to assess the clinical presentation, disease progression, and clinical profile of HIV in adolescents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: There was a cohort study conducted at the antiretroviral therapy (ART) center at a teaching hospital in Western India. The study participants were kept under observation for 1 year. The end point of the cohort analysis was HIV disease progression. Patient details such as sociodemographic profile, CD4 counts at presentation, date of initiation of ART, WHO clinical stage of HIV at presentation, episodes of opportunistic infections, and laboratory investigations were recorded. Descriptive statistics and survival analysis were used for analyzing disease progression, improvement in health conditions, and factors affecting the same. RESULTS: Of 155 participants, 100 were followed up till the end of the study. Seventy-two percent participants were adolescents and 53% were female. The mean age at presentation was 16.7 years, and the common modes of transmission were mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) (48%), heterosexual relationships (23%), and blood transfusion (12%). CD4 counts at presentation were <350 cells/mm3 among 70 participants. Among those infected through MTCT, the median survival duration was 15 years (95% confidence interval: 12.98-17.07). The risk of progression of the disease among young adults was thrice than that of adolescents (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: HIV/AIDS screening and health services shall be tailored to address the special needs of adolescents and young adults. Teaching hospitals shall explore opportunities for student-involved longitudinal research studies to better understand the source of HIV infection, treatment seeking behavior, disease progression and outcome in a comprehensive manner.
