Factors associated with Exclusive Breast Feeding(EBF) and Complementary Feeding in an Indian Urban Community: A Cross Sectional Study

Context: Inappropriate feeding practices are very much prevalent in India in areas where there is a high cultural influence on dietary habits, which starts right from the birth and remains throughout the life.Aims: To study the infant and young feeding practices and factors affecting the exclusive breast feeding in children aged 6-23m.Methods and Material:A community based cross sectional study was conducted during the period Jan2008-Dec 2008 in Mehrauli(New Delhi).Feeding practices in the community was assessed using a semistructured questionnaire from the mother/guardian of 309 children in the age group of 6-23m.Results: Breast feeding was initiated within an hour of the birth in only 10.7%(33) of children. Around half(153) of the children were fed with prelacteals and colostrum was discarded in two-thirds (208) of the total. Exclusive breast feeding was dismally low with only 6.8%(21) mothers having practiced it. EBF was found more in institutional delivered and normal birth weight babies in comparison to domiciliary delivered and low birth weight babies respectively(p<0.05). Only 31.7%(98) children were given complementary feeding at the appropriate age, and feeding in terms of calories was inadequate in three-fourth(232) of the total subjects. Knowledge assessed about IYCF(Infant and Young child Feeding) was seemingly pooramongst the mothers in the community.Conclusions: Feeding practices are considerably errant in the community due to the widely prevalent myths and rituals. There is a need of consistent re-enforcement of IEC regarding IYCF by the health workers and AWWs to dispel the misconception from the community to improve the health status of the children

Glucocorticoid Receptor and Sequential P53 Activation by Dexamethasone Mediates Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest of Osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 Cells

Glucocorticoids play a pivotal role in the proliferation of osteoblasts, but the underlying mechanism has not been successfully elucidated. In this report, we have investigated the molecular mechanism which elucidates the inhibitory effects of dexamethasone on murine osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells. It was found that the inhibitory effects were largely attributed to apoptosis and G1 phase arrest. Both the cell cycle arrest and apoptosis were dependent on glucocorticoid receptor (GR), as they were abolished by GR blocker RU486 pre-treatment and GR interference. G1 phase arrest and apoptosis were accompanied with a p53-dependent up-regulation of p21 and pro-apoptotic genes NOXA and PUMA. We also proved that dexamethasone can’t induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest when p53 was inhibited by p53 RNA interference. These data demonstrate that proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cell was significantly and directly inhibited by dexamethasone treatment via aberrant GR activation and subsequently P53 activation