Cross Sectional Study to find out the Prevalence of Tobacco use among High School & Higher Secondary class Students of Government Schools of Bhopal

Background: Tobacco use, and its negative health, social and economic impacts, is a significant global health challenge. Tobacco consumption in each age group is emerging as public health problem in all countries. More so often difficult in case of school going adolescents due to the easy availability of the tobacco products. Despite of the well-known fact that tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of premature death, disease, and disability around the world.Objectives: (1)To find out the proportion of students consuming tobacco among the students of government schools of class IX to XII.(2)To find out the age of initiation of tobacco consumption among the study group. (3)To find out the risk factors responsible for the tobacco habits among the study group.Methodology: This was a cross sectional study with multistage sampling method, in which selection of schools was done by systematic random sampling from the list of all government schools of Bhopal district.Results: The proportion of tobacco use among the study subjects in the current study was 22.69% with 46.21% in boys and 5.92% in girls. proportion of students consuming tobacco among the students of government schools of class IX to XII.In the present study, the mean age of initiation of tobacco use was12+1.23years

Study to Assess the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Blood Donation among Students of Gandhi Medical College and TIT Engineering College, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

Background: The WHO theme for World Blood Donor Day 2011 was “More blood More life”. This theme reinforced the urgent need for more people all over the world to become life-savers by volunteering to donate blood regularly. Blood can save millions of lives. The requirement of blood and blood products in a country depends on the population, health care structure, prevalence of conditions requiring regular transfusions, such as hemophilia and thalassemia etc.Aim: To assess and improve the knowledge attitude and practice of blood donation among undergraduate college students of GMC & TIT Engineering College Bhopal.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 6 months from July 2017 to December 2017 among 500 college students of GMC & TIT Engineering College, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India using convenience sampling, where blood donation camps were to be held. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaires and analyzed by Epi info-7 software.Results: The overall knowledge on blood donation among total respondents was increased from 28.9% to 52.6%. In our sample size of 500 after making them aware regarding blood donation and its benefits 193 respondents gave consent and showed positive attitude towards donation. Most common reason for donating blood was a sense of social responsibility and most common reason of non-donation was fear of the procedure. An 85% of the students were of the view that they would donate blood if asked. Students suggested that small incentives like certificates and arranging transport for blood donation would make it easier to donate.Conclusion: After assessment of all 500 individuals we came to the conclusion that awareness and knowledge among students and individuals was increased from 28.9% to 52.7%. And after encouraging all individuals for donation and keeping a target of 100 unit’s collection, we were able to collect 193 units in the course of our project

Occupational Health Hazard Among Waste Collectors of Bhopal City

Background: The manpower which collects waste from urban localities to dumping or disposal site is exposed to a number of health hazards which are of physical chemical and biological nature. The waste collectors have the seventh most dangerous job in the world. The working conditions of waste collectors are very poor and are violation of human rights. Objectives: 1. To Identify health problems in solid waste collectors of Zone-2 (old city) of Bhopal 2. To Educate them about their occupational hazards and measures to prevent them 3. To sensitize the municipal authorities about their problems and the need for provision of safety devices and measures 4. To assess the increase in the use of safety devices and measures Material and Methods: All workers of zone-2 Bhopal were called for health checkup and health education at the Urban Health and Training Centre of the Department of Community Medicine, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal. Health check up was done to access their health problems. Data regarding their knowledge, attitude and practices about occupational health hazards was using a semi-structured questionnaire. Thereafter, they were given health education about the hazards of their occupation and measures to prevent them. The results of the study were communicated to the municipal authorities for appropriate action. Results: The mean age of the study subjects was 35 years. All of them denied using protective devices like boots and gloves during waste collection. The morbidities observed were injuries, injuries with sharp (41%), dermatological problems (15%), Arthritis (10%), abdominal pain and loose motions (8%) snake bite (1.6%), others such as high BP, diabetes (13%) and none (11%). The knowledge and attitude of the workers regarding their health problems was poor. Conclusion: Injuries were the most common morbidity among waste collectors. None of them were provided with any protective devices. The knowledge and attitude of workers about prevention of occupational health hazards was poor. There is a need to raise awareness about their problems among the municipal authorities and the public

A Study to Assess Various Problems Faced by Street Children of Bhopal City

Introduction: Like all other children, although street children have the basic right to develop, survive and thrive, they encounter innumerable problems. To do so, at first it is necessary to address these children interms of what problems they face in their everyday life, what is their survival mechanism and in a broad sense their livelihood process. This research is an attempt to shed light on these cruxes in the context ofBhopal city in Madhya Pradesh. The study was conducted with objectives to observe the lifestyle of street children, to identify the problems faced by them, and to assess their survival and coping mechanism in response to the problems they encounter.Methods and Materials: The study was a cross-sectional study to access various problems faced by street adolescents of Bhopal city. Street children were identified using snowballing techniques and data from these street children was obtained via interview using a checklist having various parameters about street children according to study needs. 100 willing street children were identified and enrolled for the study.Results: According to certain indicators like dwelling condition, income level, food habit, education and health, among the street children who were interviewed, 37% were found to be educated below fifth standard and 73% were uneducated. The respondents were of ages 11 to 15 years. Most of them were Hindus. 51% of the children on street used community toilets, 53% practiced open defecation. Most of them did not get sufficient food to eat. Major work reported was serving in hotels, dhabas and begging. Main problem faced during work was heavy workload and less payment received, poor health andvulnerability and verbal abuse. Major coping mechanism was keeping patience and enduring the problems until finding some solution.Conclusion: The present menace of mushrooming of different categories of disadvantaged, abandoned, vulnerable, destitute street living, working and playing children in the cities has posed an intense threat to humanity and child rights. The livelihood trajectories of the street children entangled with terrific and aggregated predicaments and problems is nothing but the presentation of their endangered and chaotic livelihood that requires very selective and careful choice and application of coping mechanisms to survive on the streets

Effect of Skipping Breakfast on Young Girls’ Menstruation

Introduction: Breakfast is often referred to as the most important meal of the day. Evidence suggests that breakfast contributes to wellbeing in a number of areas. First, it is a central component of nutritional wellbeing, contributing to total daily energy and nutrient intake. Nearly 15% of college girls rarely or never ate breakfast, and those who ate breakfast almost every day (and did not often eat between meals) reported slightly but significantly better physical health than skippers. Eating breakfast is important for the health and development of young women. From clinical experience, there is great evidence that the frequency of irregular menstruation and intensity of dysmenorrhea was increased in young women, who were currently skipping meals, suggesting that diet in adolescence has long-lasting adverse effects on reproductive function in young women. Menstrual disorders frequently affect the quality of life of adolescents and young adult women. Breakfast as a part of healthful diet and lifestyle can positively impact children’s and young adults’ health and wellbeing. Daily eating habits significantly influence menstrual function in young women. We conducted the study to explore the association of skipping breakfast on menstruation.Objectives • To find out the proportion of girls with menstrual irregularity in those skipping breakfast; • To find out effect of breakfast skipping on menstruation among girls of age group 17–22 years. Method and Material: A cross-sectional study was used. The studied sample consisted of 90 female students of a selected college of Bhopal city. Data were collected by using an interviewing questionnaire. Analysis of the findings was done using Epi Info 7 software. Results: Mean age of the study participants was 20+3.66 years. Out of 90 students, 82% were found to have been skipping breakfast for more than 3 days a week. The study also revealed that dysmenorrhea was more in girls who skipped breakfast than in those who had breakfast (P=0.0001). Conclusion: From the above finding, we can conclude that episodes of dysmenorrhea occurred more in female students who skipped the breakfast meal more than those who took breakfast regularly