Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Practices in Urban Slums of Eastern India.

BACKGROUND: The Sustainable Development Goals identified universal access to water and sanitation facilities as key components for improving health. We assessed water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices and associated determinants among residents of urban slums in Kolkata, India. METHODS: Information on WASH practices was collected in 2 surveys (2018 and 2019) from participants of a prospective enteric fever surveillance conducted in 2 municipal wards of Kolkata. A composite WASH practice score was computed and a hierarchical stepwise multiple linear regression model constructed to identify key determinants of improved WASH score. RESULTS: Over 90% of households had access to piped water; 6% reported access to continuous supply. Adult women (61% in 2018; 45% in 2019) spent 20 minutes daily to fetch water. Access to improved latrines was almost universal, although 80% used shared facilities. Unhealthy disposal of children's stools was reported in both rounds. Food hygiene practices were high, with most (>90%) washing uncooked items before eating; frequent consumption of street food items was reported. CONCLUSIONS: The study area reported high WASH coverage. Unhygienic behavioral patterns predisposing to food- or water-borne diseases were also noted. Awareness building and sustainable community mobilization for food hygiene needs to be emphasized to ensure community well-being.

Bone health and its association with vitamin D and other covariates: A community-based study among women in a rural area of West Bengal.

BACKGROUND: Low bone mineral density (BMD) is implicated in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis and osteopenia, and primarily manifest as fragile bones. This is a rapidly emerging global health problem with increasing prevalence in India. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this was to assess the status of bone health and find its determinants among women aged 40 years and above in a rural population of West Bengal. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from May 2017 to April 2018 among 260 women aged 40 years and above residing in the selected villages of Singur through multistage random sampling. Each respondent was interviewed using a structured schedule. Serum Vitamin D and calcium levels were investigated. BMD was assessed through calcaneal quantitative ultrasound. Osteoporosis was diagnosed among those with T-score ≤-2.5, while those with 25(OH) Vitamin D <30 ng/ml were classified to have Vitamin D insufficiency (VDI). Individuals with BMD T-score <-1 were considered to have low BMD. Inferential statistics were employed to find the associates of poor bone health. RESULTS: Out of 260 participants, 34 (13.1%) were screened positive for osteoporosis and 77.7% had low BMD. Approximately 75% had VDI. On multivariable analysis, VDI (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 4.13 [2.12, 8.37]) was a significant predictor of low BMD after adjustment for poor education, decreasing diet score, menopause, presence of comorbidity, underweight, and overweight explaining 43.6% of the variance. CONCLUSION: Serum Vitamin D levels are implicated to play a crucial role in bone metabolism; however, its effect on the body in accordance with other important hormones should be explored.

Metabolic syndrome and its correlates: A cross-sectional study among adults aged 18-49 years in an Urban Area of West Bengal.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is increasing dramatically of late, across all ages irrespective of gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. People with MetS have twice the likelihood of developing and dying from cardiovascular disease and more than seven times the risk of developing diabetes. OBJECTIVES: This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of MetS among adults who were in their first three decades of adulthood and to find out the risk factors of MetS among them. METHODS: This was a community based cross-sectional study among 388 subjects aged 18-49 years selected by multistage random sampling in an area of Kolkata, India, from November 2016 to October 2018 over 2 years. Data collection was done using a structured questionnaire along with anthropometry, blood pressure measurement, and relevant blood tests. Physical activity was classified by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short-Form questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 16.0), and descriptive statistics were calculated as frequency and percentage. Logistic regression was done to determine the strength of association between MetS and different risk factors. RESULTS: The prevalence of MetS was 44.6% (35.4% in males and 55.6% in females), and female gender, poor economic status, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and addiction of tobacco were found to be the risk factors of MetS in the final model using multivariable logistic regression. CONCLUSION: This research revealed the high prevalence of MetS in the community. The effective primordial and primary level of prevention along with prevailing secondary or tertiary level of prevention should have been employed to curtail the epidemic of MetS.

A Study on the Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and its Components among Adults Aged 18-49 Years in an Urban Area of West Bengal.

CONTEXT: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is recognized as a major epidemic of the 21st century. People with MetS have twice the likelihood of developing and dying from cardiovascular diseases and more than seven times the risk of developing diabetes. AIMS: This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of MetS and its components among adults who were in their first three decades of adulthood. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a community-based cross-sectional study among 388 subjects aged 18-49 years selected by multistage random sampling in an area of Kolkata, India. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Data collection was done using a structured questionnaire along with anthropometry, blood pressure (BP) measurement, and relevant blood tests. Physical activity was classified by The International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form questionnaire. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 16.0 and descriptive statistics were calculated as frequency and percentage. RESULTS: The prevalence of MetS was 44.6% (35.4% in males and 55.6% in females) and prevalence of central obesity, elevated fasting plasma glucose, raised triglyceride, raised BP, and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were 68.6%, 41.5%, 36.1%, 45.1%, and 64.9%, respectively, among the study participants. CONCLUSIONS: This research revealed the high prevalence of MetS and its components in the community. Effective primordial and primary level of prevention along with prevailing secondary or tertiary level of prevention should have been implemented to curtail the epidemic of MetS.

Vitamin D status among women aged 40 years and above in a rural area of West Bengal: A community-based study.

INTRODUCTION: Vitamin D deficiency is a recognized pandemic. Even in a tropical country like India, where there is plentiful sunshine, vitamin D deficiency is widely prevalent. Adult females, particularly those above the age of 40, are mostly affected because vitamin D determines the pattern of post-menopausal bone loss and age-related osteoporosis. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April-December 2017 among 194 women aged 40 years and above residing in the village of Singur, West Bengal. For this study, multistage random sampling method was used. Each respondent was interviewed using a structured schedule to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, dietary pattern, their daily sun exposure, tobacco use, and morbidity profile. Individuals with 25OH vitamin D <30ng/ml were said to have vitamin D insufficiency (VDI). Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS version 16.0. RESULTS: Out of 194 participants, 70.6% had VDI (Vitamin D deficient-19.6%, Vitamin D insufficient-51.0%). Mean (SD) age of the participant was 56.9 (8.9) years. Mean (SD) duration of daily sun exposure was 138.5 (59.2) minutes. 74 (38.1%) had overweight/obesity. Only 73 (37.6%) had adequate diet. Test results revealed low SES, decreasing duration of daily sun exposure, diabetes, overweight/obesity, and inadequate diet as significant predictors of VDI, explaining 39.3% of the variance with model fit. CONCLUSION: The study has identified factors associated with VDI among the study participants. Emphasis on promoting consumption of vitamin D rich food and with vitamin D supplements, outdoor activities to increase sun exposure, maintaining optimum body weight, and strictly adhering to diabetes control will help alleviate the problem at large.

Lower Mortality Associated With Overweight in the U.S. National Health Interview Survey: Is Overweight Protective?

It is still debatable whether overweight has protective or detrimental effects on survival. The focus of the ongoing debate is on possible confounding bias due to factors such as preexisting illness and smoking. We aimed to assess the association between overweight and mortality and to examine confounding effects of various factors including smoking and preexisting cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, asthma, bronchitis, and kidney disease on the overweight-mortality association in adults.The data were extracted from the public-use National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 1997 to 2009. Mortality data up to December 31, 2011 were linked to 131,813 with normal weight and 120,217 overweight adults. We assessed the association between overweight and mortality using Cox proportional hazard model with adjustments for various sets of confounding factors-age, sex, smoking, race, survey year, diabetes, CVD, cancer, asthma, bronchitis, and kidney disease.During the period from the original surveys to December 31, 2011, 22,513 (11,815 normal weight and 10,698 overweight) adults died. Normal weight and overweight groups differed in the characteristics of age, sex, smoking, and preexisting diseases. After adjusting for age and sex, the risk of dying was lower for overweight than normal weight adults (hazard ratio [HR], 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.80-0.85). Lower mortality risk associated with overweight remained after further adjusting for smoking and preexisting diseases such as diabetes, CVD, cancer, asthma, bronchitis, and kidney disease (HR, 0.80; 95% CI: 0.78-0.82). We observed a similar pattern for men and women, and for those free from preexisting diabetes, hypertension, and CVD.In conclusion, overweight adults have a lower mortality risk than normal weight adults. Our findings do not support that the lower mortality in overweight adults is due to confounding effects of smoking and preexisting diseases.