Introduction: Adolescence is a highly dynamic period characterised by rapid growth and development. Adolescents have limited knowledge about sexual and reproduction health, and know little about the natural processes of puberty, sexual health, pregnancy or reproduction. Sex education should be an integral part of the learning process beginning in childhood and continuing into adult life, because it is lifelong process. Aim:This study was carried out to identify the knowledge and attitude of imparting sex education in school going adolescents in rural and urban area of Ambala district Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study design was used to study the knowledge of reproductive and sexual health among school going children. A total of 743 adolescents from age group of 13-19 year were studied, using self designed semistructured questionnaire to assess the knowledge regarding reproductive and sexual health among adolescents Results:The mean age of study subjects was 15.958±1.61 years, majority of adolescents i.e., 93.5% favour sex education. An 86.3% said sex education can prevent the occurrence of AIDS and 91.5% of adolescents prefer doctors should give them sex education followed by 83.0% school/teacher and least preference was parents 37.3%. Conclusion:There were substantial lacunae in the knowledge about reproductive and sexual health. Students felt that sex education is necessary and should be introduced in the school curriculum.

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Background Adherence to antiepileptic drugs (AED) is essential for adequate seizure control in epilepsy. People with low socioeconomic status are more vulnerable to poor adherence to AED. The present study aimed to explore factors associated with poor adherence to antiepileptic drugs in below poverty line (BPL) persons with epilepsy (PWE). Methods The research had a cross-sectional design with inclusion of persons aged 18 to 65 years and an established diagnosis of epilepsy. Holding a BPL card (Yellow card) was taken as a measure for BPL criteria. Adherence to antiepileptic drugs was assessed using medication adherence rating scale (MARS). Univariate analysis with Chi-square test was used to determine the association between various variables and AED adherence, while the predictors of adherence were identified using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results There was a total of 88 BPL PWE. The mean age of male and female patients was 35.0 ± 15.0 & 32.0 ± 10.1 years, respectively. Adherence for drugs were found to be 30.7% and nonadherence to be 44.3%. Low (illiterate or primary) education (OR 0.041 [0.01–0.21]), polytherapy (OR 0.088 [0.02–0.40]), and substance abuse (OR 0.05 [0.01–0.58]) were found to have significant association with nonadherence to AEDs. Age, gender, marital status, family composition, occupation, rural urban background, distance from health care facility, duration of epilepsy, and side effects of AED were not found to have significant association with adherence. Conclusion There is a need for psychoeducational programs for the people having low education status and polytherapy to form positive beliefs in AEDs. Substance abuse should also be addressed while treating them.

Background: Body image refers to how individuals think, feel and behave in relation to their body and appearance. During adolescence self-perception about their appearance is important to the development of self-esteem and is also understood to be an important predictor of self-worth. Research has shown that inappropriate perception of the body image and dissatisfaction can lead to physical and psychic problems in the youth. In today's society, with the growing sense of ideal body image, adolescents and young adults try to lose or gain body weight to attain perfect body. The objective of the study is to find out the proportion of students dissatisfied with their body image, and the association of various determinants with body image dissatisfaction and self-esteem.  Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 125 first year medical students located in rural Haryana. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on various determinants associated with body image dissatisfaction and self-esteem.Results: Body image dissatisfaction was present among 16.8% of the students. Low self-esteem was observed among 21.6% of the students. Low body mass index (<18.5) was found to be significantly associated with body image dissatisfaction. A moderately positive correlation (r=0.384, p<0.001) was observed between self-esteem and body image satisfaction.Conclusions: Study findings support the fact that body image dissatisfaction has its impact on self-esteem among college-going youth. It is imperative that effective interventions be planned to educate the youth on ideal body weight and protect this young generation from pressures and consequences of negative body image.

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