Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Students of Government and Private High Schools in an Indian State With Significant Tribal Population: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study.

BACKGROUND: Overweight and obesity among school-going children is an emerging public health problem in the country. The information available on the true extent of obesity and overweight among school-aged children is limited. Hence, the present study has been conducted to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among high school students in Jharkhand, India. METHODOLOGY: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 1162 students of government and private schools of Ormanjhi block, Ranchi district, from July 2022 to December 2022. A predesigned, semi-structured, pre-tested questionnaire containing different sections namely sociodemographic characteristics, and health parameters were used for the study subjects. Clinical examination and anthropometric measurements of height, weight, and waist and hip circumferences were taken using standard equipment to calculate body mass index (BMI) and central obesity (waist-hip ratio). RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was more at 14 years of age (30.2%), among boys (18.1%), and among students practicing the Islam religion (51.1%). Moreover, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was found to be highest in private schools (66.2%), and that was statistically significant (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was found to be significant with respect to age, gender, and religion. The findings from this study would be helpful in raising awareness among students, parents, teachers, and health professionals about the influence of overweight and obesity on a child's physical, social, and psychological well-being, and this, in turn, would facilitate parents, students, and teachers in the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.

Predictors of Breastfeeding Initiation Among Postnatal Mothers at Tertiary Care Center of a Tribal Dominant State in India: A Regression Analysis.

Background Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) is one of the most important predictors for the survival of a child, spacing between two children, and prevention from childhood infections. Breastfeeding plays an important role in reducing child mortality and morbidity but the practice of EIBF globally is way behind the required time for initiation of breastfeeding after delivery. So, we planned to evaluate the early time of initiation of breastfeeding among the postnatal mothers and to determine the predictors of early initiation of breastfeeding in a tertiary hospital setting. Methodology A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the postnatal ward of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi, Jharkhand for a period of three months (March-May 2017). Our study included 200 postnatal mothers who delivered normal and healthy babies. Mother-infant dyads enrolled in our study were interviewed personally during six hours of the postpartum period. Irrespective of the mode of delivery, all babies born during the study period whose mothers consented to be a part of the study were included. Data collected were entered in MS Excel and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Results A total of 200 postnatal mothers fulfilling the study criteria were enrolled during the study. Of them, the majority 98 (49%) belonged to the age group 18-25 years. A hundred and twenty-six (63%) of them resided in rural areas, 182 (91%) were housewives, and only 86 (43%) of them had completed secondary education & above. Early initiation of breastfeeding was found to be only 43 (21.5%) among postnatal mothers. Predictors found to be statistically significant with EIBF were mother's residential status [odds ratio (OR): 2.98; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.25-7.13], educational status of mother (OR: 3.18; 95% CI: 1.12-9.01) mode of delivery of the baby (OR: 8.93; 95% CI: 2.66-30.06) and ante-natal care (ANC) visits (OR: 0.441; 95% CI: 0.311-0.651). Women's age, religion, ethnicity, occupation, type of family, and socioeconomic status displayed no statistically significant relationship with EIBF. Conclusions It is concluded that nearly one-fifth of mothers in the study initiated breastfeeding within one hour of post-delivery. Maternal education, frequent ANC visits, place of residence, and mode of delivery were also associated with EIBF in India. Nursing staff, as well as clinicians, should reinforce the importance of early initiation of breastfeeding by providing proper health education to post-natal beneficiaries.

ZnO Nanorod-Based Non-Enzymatic Optical Glucose Biosensor.

The highly sensitive, interference-free and non-enzymatic optical sensing of glucose has been made possible for the first time using the hydrothermally synthesized ZnO nanorods. The UV irradiation of glucose-treated ZnO nanorods decomposes glucose into hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and gluconic acid by UV oxidation. The ZnO nanorods play the role of a catalyst similar to the oxidase used in the enzymatic glucose sensors. The photoluminescence (PL) intensity of the near-band edge emission of the ZnO nanorods linearly decreased with the increased concentration of H2O2. Therefore, the glucose concentration is monitored over the wide range of 0.5-30 mM, corresponding to 9-540 mg/dL. The concentration range of the linear region in the calibration curve is suitable for its clinical use as a glucose sensor, because the glucose concentration of human serum is typically in the range of 80-120 mg/dL. In addition, the optical glucose sensor made of the ZnO nanorods is free from interference by bovin serum albumin, ascorbic acid or uric acid, which are also present in human blood. The non-enzymatic ZnO-nanorod sensor has been demonstrated with human serum samples from both normal persons and diabetic patients. There is a good agreement between the glucose concentrations measured by the PL quenching and standard clinical methods.

In vitro biosynthesis and genotoxicity bioassay of silver nanoparticles using plants.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNP-P) from AgNO(3) were synthesized by using the broth prepared from the aromatic spath of male inflorescence of screw pine, Pandanus odorifer (Forssk.) Kuntze AgNP-P was then characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Functional groups in the broth were analyzed by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Genotoxicity of AgNP-P was assessed by utilizing our well-established Allium cepa assay system with biomarkers including the generation reactive oxygen species (ROS: O(2)(·-) and H(2)O(2)), cell death, mitotic index, micronucleus, mitotic aberrations; and DNA damage by Comet assay. Other chemical forms of silver such as Ag(+) ion, colloidal AgCl, and AgNP-S at doses 0-80 mg L(-1) were included for comparison with AgNP-P. The results revealed that AgNP-P and AgNP-S exhibited similar biological effects in causing lesser extent of cytotoxicity and greater extent of genotoxicity than that was exhibited by Ag(+) ion alone. Among different tested chemical forms of silver, colloidal AgCl was identified to be the least cytotoxic and genotoxic. Cell death and DNA-damage induced by AgNP-P were prevented by Tiron and dimethyl thiourea that scavenge O(2)(·-) and H(2)O(2), respectively. The present findings demonstrated the role of ROS in the AgNP-induced cell death and DNA damage.