Objective:To study the prevalence of obesity and overweight among school children in Puducherry. To identify any variation as per age, gender, place of residence and type of school.Setting and design:Secondary data analysis of a school-based cross sectional study in all the four regions of Puducherry.Materials and Methods:Children between 6 and 12 yrs were sampled using multistage random sampling with population proportionate to size from 30 clusters. Anthropometric data (BMI) was analyzed using CDC growth charts. Data was analyzed using SPSS, BMI (CDC) calculator, CI calculator and OR calculator.Results:The prevalence of overweight (≥85th percentile) among children was 4.41% and prevalence of obesity (>95th percentile) was 2.12%. Mahe region had the highest prevalence of overweight (8.66%) and obesity (4.69%). Female children from private schools and urban areas were at greater risk of being overweight and obese.Conclusions:Childhood obesity is a problem in Puducherry and requires timely intervention for its control.
Level of physical activity was found to be insufficient among adult urban population of Puducherry. Working adult population found to be active, that too due to their work pattern. There is a need to promote leisure time and travelling time physical activity.
Early diagnosis and prompt initiation of treatment are essential for an effective tuberculosis (TB) control program. This study was done to assess the extent of various delays among TB patients diagnosed at medical colleges of Puducherry. A cross-sectional study involving retrospective medical record review and prospective patient interviews was conducted in and around the union territory of Puducherry during the period 2009-10. Various delays and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. Level of significance was determined at 95% confidence interval (CI) (P value <0.05) and all tests were two-sided. Among 216 new sputum smear-positive TB patients, 11.1% and 10.6% were smokers and alcohol users, respectively. The median patient delay, health system delay, and total delay was 37 days, 28 days, and 65 days respectively. Being a resident of Puducherry (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.18-0.87) and family size of ≤5 (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.21-0.97) were found as the determinants of patient delays and total delays, respectively.
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