Tobacco abuse among school going adolescents in a rural area of West Bengal, India

Adolescents are vulnerable targets of tobacco industry with all consequences of usage. Studies reveal that tobacco abuse is rising in this age group in India. A cross sectional survey was carried out in two coeducational high schools of Anandanagar village of Singur block, Hooghly district, West Bengal among 276 students of VIII-IX standard to study the knowledge and abuse of tobacco and to find out influencing socio-demographic factors. Knowledge score was higher in females, students from nuclear families, and those with literate parents. Low prevalence of tobacco intake was obtained among the students, with 9.8% reported having ever used smokeless tobacco and 4.3% ever smoked. Tobacco intake was higher among those with a history of parental tobacco intake. Continued information education and communication (IEC) activities should be conducted by the school authorities, with involvement of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and parents for primary prevention

An epidemiological study on risk factors of diabetes mellitus among the patients attending a tertiary care hospital of West Bengal, India

The report of World Health Organization (WHO) shows that India tops the world with largest number of diabetic subjects. This increase is attributed to the rapid epidemiological transition accompanied by urbanization and changes in the life style, which is occurring in India. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Biochemistry of Calcutta National Medical College among the patients who were doing first time blood examination for diagnosis of diabetes. The objective of this study was to assess socio-demographic profile and risk factors associated with the diabetic patients. Prevalence of diabetes was more (63.6%) among those who had BMI (Body Mass Index) 25 or more, where as the proportion of diabetes was less among the persons having BMI less than 18.5. This association was found to be statistically significant (χ2 = 32.78, df = 2 p = 0.0001). Prevalence of diabetes was also high among persons consuming tobacco (34.5%) (χ2 = 14.76, df = 1, p = 0.0001) and animal protein (51.5%) (χ2 = 55.65, df = 1, p = 0.0001). Lifestyle modifications, reduction of body weight, increasing physical activity are some of the important primary preventive measures to halt the upward trend of diabetes epidemic in India

Assessment of malnutrition among adolescents: Can BMI be replaced by MUAC

Objectives: To find out the magnitude of malnutrition among the adolescents of an urban slum of Kolkata study population. To compare the middle upper arm circumference (MUAC) with that of body mass index (BMI) for determination of nutritional status of the study population. Materials and Methods: This was a school-based descriptive epidemiological study done among adolescent male students aged 10-19 years in the service area of Urban Health Centre, Chetla. The school is an all boy′s government aided school and all the students reside in the Chetla slum, the largest slum of Kolkata. Anthropometric measurements of the students of one section selected from each class i.e. class V to XII were recorded. Results: Results showed 47.93% of study population as per BMI and 60.30% as per MUAC were malnourished. Evaluation of screening test showed MUAC as a marker was 94.6% sensitive and 71.2% specific. A correlation between measurements of MUAC and BMI was demonstrated (r=0.822; SE=0.035; 95% CI; P=0.000000; r2 =0.74)