Impact of Awareness Program on Prevention of Childhood Obesity among School Children in a Metropolitan City – Chennai Slim and Fit Programme

Childhood obesity is an emerging public health issue in developing countries like India, yet combating against under nutrition. An evident and effective strategy is required to tackle childhood obesity. Moreover here it is necessary to consider the perception of obesity among general population. Most of the adults perceive obesity as a positive dimension of health. A school-based mass education programme for children improved their awareness levels about the hazards of being overweight and also the benefits of regular physical activity and right eating habits. However, the improvement was not significant in obese group as they had an increased awareness levels at the baseline compared to others. These higher baseline scores may be attributed to their knowledge acquirement after facing frequent difficulties in performing regular activities due to health disturbances. So a mass awareness program coupled with special motivation sessions tailored for obese children could prevent imminent obesity epidemic. Keywords: childhood obesity, India, mass awareness programme, metropolitan city, overweight, school children

Heat Exposure among Adult Women in Rural Tamil Nadu, India.

Exposure to heat is associated with a substantial burden of disease and is an emerging issue in the context of climate change. Heat is of particular concern in India, which is one of the worlds hottest countries and also most populous, where relatively little is known about personal heat exposure, particularly in rural areas. Here, we leverage data collected as part of a randomized controlled trial to describe personal temperature exposures of adult women (40-79 years of age) in rural Tamil Nadu. We also characterize measurement error in heat exposure assessment by comparing personal exposure measurements to the nearest ambient monitoring stations and to commonly used modeled temperature data products. We find that temperatures differ across individuals in the same area on the same day, sometimes by more than 5 °C within the same hour, and that some individuals experience sharp increases in heat exposure in the early morning or evening, potentially a result of cooking with solid fuels. We find somewhat stronger correlations between the personal exposure measurements and the modeled products than with ambient monitors. We did not find evidence of systematic biases, which indicates that adjusting for discrepancies between different exposure measurement methods is not straightforward

Flowchart showing the details of selection of study sites and study subjects.

<p>Flowchart showing the details of selection of study sites and study subjects.</p

Comparison of study characteristics among TB patients with normoglycemia, pre-diabetes and diabetes.

<p>Comparison of study characteristics among TB patients with normoglycemia, pre-diabetes and diabetes.</p

Location of selected Tuberculosis Units in three districts of Tamil Nadu, India.

<p>Location of selected Tuberculosis Units in three districts of Tamil Nadu, India.</p

Demographic and anthropometric details of the study subjects.

<p>Demographic and anthropometric details of the study subjects.</p

Designing a comprehensive behaviour change intervention to promote and monitor exclusive use of liquefied petroleum gas stoves for the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial

Introduction Increasing use of cleaner fuels, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and abandonment of solid fuels is key to reducing household air pollution and realising potential health improvements in low-income countries. However, achieving exclusive LPG use in households unaccustomed to this type of fuel, used in combination with a new stove technology, requires substantial behaviour change. We conducted theory-grounded formative research to identify contextual factors influencing cooking fuel choice to guide the development of behavioural strategies for the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial. The HAPIN trial will assess the impact of exclusive LPG use on air pollution exposure and health of pregnant women, older adult women, and infants under 1 year of age in Guatemala, India, Peru, and Rwanda.Methods Using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation–Behaviour (COM–B) framework and Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) to guide formative research, we conducted in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observations, key informant interviews and pilot studies to identify key influencers of cooking behaviours in the four countries. We used these findings to develop behavioural strategies likely to achieve exclusive LPG use in the HAPIN trial.Results We identified nine potential influencers of exclusive LPG use, including perceived disadvantages of solid fuels, family preferences, cookware, traditional foods, non-food-related cooking, heating needs, LPG awareness, safety and cost and availability of fuel. Mapping formative findings onto the theoretical frameworks, behavioural strategies for achieving exclusive LPG use in each research site included free fuel deliveries, locally acceptable stoves and equipment, hands-on training and printed materials and videos emphasising relevant messages. In the HAPIN trial, we will monitor and reinforce exclusive LPG use through temperature data loggers, LPG fuel delivery tracking, in-home observations and behavioural reinforcement visits.Conclusion Our formative research and behavioural strategies can inform the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of theory-informed strategies to promote exclusive LPG use in future stove programmes and research studies.Trial registration number NCT02944682, Pre-results

Comparison of next-generation portable pollution monitors to measure exposure to PM2.5 from household air pollution in Puno, Peru

Assessment of personal exposure to PM2.5 is critical for understanding intervention effectiveness and exposure-response relationships in household air pollution studies. In this pilot study, we compared PM2.5 concentrations obtained from two next-generation personal exposure monitors (the Enhanced Children MicroPEM or ECM; and the Ultrasonic Personal Air Sampler or UPAS) to those obtained with a traditional Triplex Cyclone and SKC Air Pump (a gravimetric cyclone/pump sampler). We co-located cyclone/pumps with an ECM and UPAS to obtain 24-hour kitchen concentrations and personal exposure measurements. We measured Spearmen correlations and evaluated agreement using the Bland-Altman method. We obtained 215 filters from 72 ECM and 71 UPAS co-locations. Overall, the ECM and the UPAS had similar correlation (ECM rho = 0.91 vs UPAS rho = 0.88) and agreement (ECM mean difference of 121.7 mu g/m(3) vs UPAS mean difference of 93.9 mu g/m(3)) with overlapping confidence intervals when compared against the cyclone/pump. When adjusted for the limit of detection, agreement between the devices and the cyclone/pump was also similar for all samples (ECM mean difference of 68.8 mu g/m(3) vs UPAS mean difference of 65.4 mu g/m(3)) and personal exposure samples (ECM mean difference of -3.8 mu g/m(3) vs UPAS mean difference of -12.9 mu g/m(3)). Both the ECM and UPAS produced comparable measurements when compared against a cyclone/pump setup