Maternal nutritional status, food intake and pregnancy weight gain in Nepal

This is the author's accepted version (version 2) of an article published by SAGE in Journal of Health Management, March 2016. The published version is available at http://pss.sagepub.com/lookup/doi/10.1177/0972063415625537Poor maternal nutrition during pregnancy may predispose to intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), immunological and metabolic adaptations which manifest as low birth weight and increase the risk of adult non-communicable disease. This study examined the relationships between maternal nutritional status, food intake and pregnancy weight gain (PWG) which may account for risk of low birth weight (LBW) in Nepal

The extent, nature and distribution of child poverty in India

Despite a long history, research on poverty has only relatively recently examined the issue of child poverty as a distinct topic of concern. This article examines how child poverty and well-being are now conceptualized, defined and measured, and presents a portrait of child poverty in India by social and cultural groups, and by geographic area. In December 2006, the UN General Assembly adopted a definition of child poverty which noted that children living in poverty were deprived of (among other things) nutrition, water and sanitation facilities, access to basic health care services, shelter and education. The definition noted that while poverty hurts every human being ‘it is most threatening and harmful to children, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, to reach their full potential and to participate as full members of the society’. Researchers have developed age-specific and gender-sensitive indicators of deprivation which conform to the UN definition of child poverty and which can be used to examine the extent and nature of child poverty in low and middle-income countries. These new methods have ‘transformed the way UNICEF and many of its partners both understood and measured the poverty suffered by children’ (UNICEF, 2009). This article uses these methods and presents results of child poverty in India based on nationally representative household survey data for India

Hepatitis-B virus and Indian childhood cirrhosis

The surface and core components of hepatitis-B virus have not been detected in livers of patients suffering from Indian childhood cirrhosis using procedures such as immuno-peroxidase, immunofluorescence, and orcein staining as well as electronmicroscopy. This finding, together with the other features of the disease, suggests that infection by this virus plays no significant role in the aetiology of Indian childhood cirrhosis

Tropical sprue in Northern India

An account of the clinical and pathological features of 70 cases of tropical sprue occurring in the Delhi area is presented. The syndrome is characterised by chronic diarrhoea, steatorrhoea, barium meal abnormalities and histological alterations in the mucosa of the small intestine. Although the syndrome is generally similar to the coeliac disease and idiopathic steatorrhoea of the West, it differs from it in some respects. It has a short and self-limiting course; the steatorrhoea is generally mild as also are the histological changes. It improves on a good hospital diet and is not specifically influenced by a gluten-free diet. The aetiology and pathogenesis are obscure. The roles of infection and malnutrition are discussed

Etiopathogenesis of nutritional anemia in pregnancy: a therapeutic approach

One hundred twelve pregnant women at 26 ± 2 weeks of gestation and with hemoglobin levels of less than 11 g/100 ml were investigated for level of hematocrit, serum iron, iron-binding capacity, serum vitamin B12, and serum folates. They were randomly divided into eight groups receiving as follows: I, placebo; II, iron; III, vitamin B12; IV, folic acid; V, iron + vitamin B12; VI, iron + folic acid; VII, vitamin B12 + folic acid; and VIII, iron, vitamin B12, and folic acid. The treatment was given for a period of 4 weeks. The women receiving iron singly or in combination showed a significant rise in hemoglobin. Vitamin B12 and/or folic acid did not enhance the effect of iron supplementation. The response to therapy was not related to initial level of serum iron, vitamin B12, or folic acid. The study clearly demonstrates that iron deficiency is the most important factor in causation of anemia in these women