Background: Refractive error could be considered as an avoidable condition among various conditions leading to visual disabilities in children. Present study was conducted with the objective of estimating the prevalence of refractive errors among school children in Surendranagar district. Methods: The study was conducted among the school going children of 10-16 years age group of Surendranagar district of Gujarat state. Total 600 students were examined from rural and urban schools of the district. The study was carried out through oral questionnaire method using pre-designed and pretested Performa followed by ocular examination. Results: Overall prevalence of refractive errors was found to be 29.5%. Headache was the single most common symptom reported by 38.58% children. Nearly 36.54% boys and 36.98% girls had moderate visual impairment while 4.80% boys and 2.75% girls had severe visual impairment. Among the children having refractive errors 61.02% children did not use spectacles. Conclusions: The study shows that children among 10-16 years are at risk of developing refractive errors and many of them are not aware of the refractive errors.

Introduction: India is facing a dual burden of malnutrition with high prevalence of underweight and increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity. Methodology: This study reports anthropometric findings (body mass index, waist circumference [WC], and waist–hip ratio [WHR]) from the screening of 3296 students admitted during 2018–2019. Results: Majority of the students were male (70%), with a mean age of 18.57 years. About 31% and 19% of students were underweight and overweight, respectively. Given sex-specific cutoffs for WC and WHR, about 5% and 21% of students were at substantially increased risk of metabolic complications. About 14.5% of normal and underweight students were also found to be at substantially increased risk of metabolic complications. Multivariate analysis found increasing age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.88–0.98) and being male (OR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.62–0.88) to be protective factors against underweight. We did not find any statistically significant correlation for overweight, for WHR among males, and WC and WHR among females. Conclusion: It has been noted that the college environment increases the risk of weight gain. Hence, it makes a case to periodically study changes in anthropometric measures through a longitudinal study, and accordingly develop life cycle-based interventions for prevention/management of undernutrition, obesity, and related complications.

Background: National family health survey-4 data suggests alarmingly high prevalence of anemia among adult population. Hemoglobinopathies such as thalassemias and structural hemoglobin (Hb) variants are the commonly seen autosomal, recessively inherited, monogenic disorders of Hb production, and pose a significant health burden in India. Premarriage screening for thalassemia would help to prevent such marriage, reduce health and financial burdens. Objectives: To assess the burden of anemia and hemoglobinopathies, among newly admitted college students through a University-level screening program. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among college students of the University. The study was part of regular health check-up of all new admissions. Sample frame included all the 4197 students who appeared for health screening and were screened for anemia and hemoglobinopathies. Results: Out of 4197 students, 73.2% were male and a total of 19.5%were anemic. Gender-wise prevalence among males and females was 13.6% and 35.7%, respectively. Among anemic, the proportion of mild, moderate, and severe anemia was 69%, 29%, and 2%. Prevalence of typical beta thal minor and sickle cell trait was found to be 2.6% and 1.4%. Conclusions: Anemia and hemoglobinopathies are significant public health challenges. University setup offers a unique opportunity for modeling and pilot testing integrated interventions for screening and management.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of 5.25% Sodium hypochlorite, UV rays for disinfecting Polyether Monophase and Polyvinyl monophase impression material. Materials and Methods: Ten healthy dentulous subjects irrespective of gender were selected. For each dentulous subject four impressions of maxillary arch were made with Polyvinyl siloxane and Polyether monophase impression material. First impression was kept as control. Second impression was disinfected with 5.25% sodium hypochlorite for 10 minutes. Third impression was disinfected by exposing it to UV light (A and B) for 3 minutes and fourth impression was disinfected by exposing it to UV light (A and B) for 10 minutes. The colony was observed based on standard method and technique under binocular microscope and the growth in broth were observed based on their turbidity with the help of colorimeter. Result: The intergroup comparison was done by using ANOVA test while the comparison between two groups was done by using paired t test. Conclusion: In this study sodium hypochlorite was found to be more effective in killing microorganisms than UV rays as it kills only surfaces microbes.