Background: The prevalence of dental caries in preschool children has not been declining in the recent past. A growing body of research suggests that social and behavioural factors may play a considerable role in the aetiology of dental caries. Aims: The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between the family structure and dental caries experience in preschool children. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in children aged 3–5 years in Wattala Divisional Secretariat area in Colombo district of Sri Lanka. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information from the parents on family structure including the size, birth rank, age spacing between the next oldest and youngest sibling and age of parent at birth of the subject. The dental caries status of the children was assessed using WHO standard criteria for primary teeth. Results: Family size, birth rank, age difference between the subject and next oldest sibling and parent’s age at birth of the subject were significantly associated with the dental caries experience of the preschool children at bivariate level. In a stepwise multiple linear regression analysis family size, birth rank and the parent’s age at birth of the child remained statistically significant. Conclusion: The present findings suggest that family structure might significantly affect the caries experience of preschool children.

By 2016, Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) had developed and implemented national action plans on noncommunicable diseases in line with the Global action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (2013–2020). In 2018, we assessed the implementation status of the recommended best-buy noncommunicable diseases interventions in seven Asian countries: Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. We gathered data from a range of published reports and directly from health ministries. We included interventions that addressed the use of tobacco and alcohol, inadequate physical activity and high salt intake, as well as health-systems responses, and we identified gaps and proposed solutions. In 2018, progress was uneven across countries. Implementation gaps were largely due to inadequate funding; limited institutional capacity (despite designated noncommunicable diseases units); inadequate action across different sectors within and outside the health system; and a lack of standardized monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to inform policies. To address implementation gaps, governments need to invest more in effective interventions such as the WHO-recommended best-buy interventions, improve action across different sectors, and enhance capacity in monitoring and evaluation and in research. Learning from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the WHO and international partners should develop a standardized, comprehensive monitoring tool on alcohol, salt and unhealthy food consumption, physical activity and health-systems response.

Background An optimum adolescence is associated with a psycho-social and cognitive development. These developments affects the interactions in the day-to-day activities of young people and have impacts on their lives beyond the adolescence age-group. The prevalence of psycho-social problems among adolescents are on the rise. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with the selected attributes of psycho-social well-being among 13 to 17-year in-school adolescents of Sri Lanka using the Global School Health Survey (GSHS). Methods GSHS, was a cross-sectional study conducted among 3,650 adolescents of aged 13-17, attending government schools. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Four selected psychosocial well-being outcomes (i.e. being bullied, loneliness, feeling anxious, suicidal ideation and practices) were assessed with questions for 11 potential associated factors of those. The sample was selected through a two-staged cluster sampling technique. Multivariable analysis was done with multiple logistic regression to determine the independent associated factors. Results Majority of the respondents belonged to the 13-15 age group (66.5%) and with 51.1% were females. More than one third of the participants (37.7%, 95%CI 36.1-39.5) had experienced bullying 30 days prior to the study. ‘Loneliness’ and ‘feeling anxious’ had been experienced by 9.0% (95%CI 8.0-10.0) and 4.7% (95%CI 3.9- 5.4), respectively. The prevalence of planning an attempt of suicide was 6.3%, while 6.6% had at least attempted suicide once. Multivariable analysis revealed that ‘lacked parental support’ and ‘being engaged in a fight’ were independently associated with being bullied, feeling lonely and considering attempting suicide. Mutual associations of the four outcomes with each other indicate that being bullied was significantly associated with loneliness and feeling anxious. In addition, loneliness was independently associated ‘considering an attempt of suicide’ (OR=2.9, 95%CI=2.0 to 4.3). Feeling anxious was also associated with considering attempting suicide (OR=3.4, 95%CI= 2.1 to 5.4). Conclusion This study demonstrated that the prevalence of psycho-social wellbeing is among school going adolescents is a major public health problem in Sri Lanka. School-based interventions to address these issues should be designed with the goal of increasing adolescents’ awareness of the measures of raising the psycho-social wellbeing.

Background Adolescence period is associated with psycho-social issues which affect their day to day activities and go beyond their adolescent age group. It has been recorded that prevalence of psycho-social issues are rising globally. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with the selected attributes of psycho-social well-being among 13 to 17-year in-school adolescents of Sri Lanka using the Global School Health Survey (GSHS), conducted in Sri Lanka. Methods GSHS, was a cross-sectional study conducted among 3,650 adolescents of aged 13–17, attending government schools. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Psychosocial well-being included questions of four selected outcomes (i.e. bullying, felling alone, sleep disturbances due to a worry, suicidal ideation and practices) and 10 potential associated factors of these. The sample was selected through a two-staged cluster sampling technique. In determining the independent associated factors, multivariable analysis was done with multiple logistic regression. Results Most of the students who responded belonged to the 13–15 age group (66.5%) and with 51.1% were females. More than one third of the participants (37.7%, 95%CI 36.1–39.5) had experienced bullying 30 days prior to the study. ‘Feeling loneliness’ and ‘experiencing anxiety’ had been experienced by 9.0% (95%CI 8.0–10.0) and 4.7% (95%CI 3.9–5.4), respectively. The prevalence of planning an attempt of suicide was 6.3%, while 6.6% had at least once attempted suicide. Multivariable analysis revealed that lacked parental support and being engaged in a fight were independently associated with being bullied, feeling lonely and considering attempting suicide. Mutual association of the four outcomes with each other indicate that being bullied was significantly associated with experiencing loneliness and feeling anxiety. In addition, experiencing loneliness was independently associated “considering an attempt of suicide” (OR = 2.9, 95%CI = 2.0 to 4.3). Feeling anxiety was also associated with considering attempting suicide (OR = 3.4, 95%CI = 2.1 to 5.4). Conclusion This study demonstrated that the prevalence of psycho-social wellbeing is among school going adolescents is a major public health problem in Sri Lanka. School-based interventions to address these issues should be designed with the goal of increasing adolescents’ awareness of possible preventive measures of unintentional injuries.