Background: PMSMA was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India to improve the quality and coverage of antenatal care as part of RMNCH+A to reduce MMR. It is an initiative to help pregnant women especially from backward classes, rural areas and belonging to the unprivileged group, in remaining healthy throughout their pregnancy. Objective: 1. To assess the utilization of antenatal care services at PMSMA clinic on 9 th of each month. 2. To know factors associated with the utilization of services in PMSMA clinic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in February-April 2018 among 161 mothers who had delivered within one year from the date of the study and who had registered and availed ANC services at Rural field practice area of BIMS, Belagavi. Mothers were selected using systematic sampling. After obtaining an informed, written consent from the eligible participants, data was collected regarding utilization of ANC services and the quality of care received by them. The collected data was compiled, tabulated and analyzed in MS Excel and SPSS. The results are presented as percentage and proportion and chi-square test has been applied. Results: Majority of participants belonged to the age group 20-30 years. Majority were Hindu by religion and belonged to low socioeconomic class. ANC services under PMSMA were utilized by 32% participants. The utilization of services under PMSMA was found to be significantly associated with the type of family of the participant and awareness regarding the same. Conclusion:This study found low level of utilization of antenatal services under PMSMA in rural area of Belagavi.

Background: Antenatal care (ANC) is the care given to pregnant women for safe pregnancy and healthy babies. It is the most effective health intervention for preventing maternal morbidity and mortality. Health knowledge is an important element which enables women to be aware of their health status and promotes service utilization which further improves the health of the beneficiaries. This study was conducted among mothers of rural area of Belagavi with an objective to determine the level of knowledge related to ANC and the factors associated with the same. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in February-April 2018 among mothers who had delivered within one year from date of study and who had registered and availed antenatal services in field practice area of Department of Community Medicine, BIMS, Belagavi. Sample size was calculated as 161. Mothers were selected using systematic sampling. Data was collected after obtaining an informed, written consent from the participants and was compiled, tabulated and analysed in MS Excel. The results are presented as percentage and proportions and chi square test has been applied. Results: 50% participants had fair knowledge regarding ANC. The level of knowledge was found to be statistically significant with employment status and BPL status. Conclusions: The study found adequate knowledge among majority of mothers.

Background: Childhood obesity is a major contributor to the global burden of chronic diseases and is an important determinant of cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes etc. This can largely be attributed to the transformation in the lifestyles of children. There is still lack of knowledge about obesity among high school children. Objective of this study was to assess the knowledge of risk factors of obesity among school children and to find out the knowledge of hazards and preventive measures of obesity among school children.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among school students aged between 13-14 years from 9 randomly selected schools. The total sample included 480 students.Results: Out of 480 subjects 70.4% had heard about obesity, 62.3% were aware about the increasing prevalence of obesity among the youngsters, 26.7% thought unhealthy dietary factors and 29% thought mental stress were the main factors leading to obesity and non-communicable diseases. More than 75% students had correct knowledge of dietary factors associated with obesity like eating larger portion of food, eating fried foods, having junk foods. 51-75% of the students responded correctly for the factors i.e. using motorcycle for short distance.Conclusions: More than half of the students had knowledge of specific dietary and physical activity risk factors. Majority of the students identified high blood pressure, diabetes and heart problem as hazards of obesity. Only one third of the students knew preventive measures like adequate intake of fruits and vegetables, limiting unhealthy snacks and limiting screen time to prevent obesity.

Background: Hypertension has not just remained the disease of adults, but the prevalence is also increasing in children and adolescents. Knowledge of the predisposing risk factors of hypertension is an important step in the modification of lifestyle behaviours to prevent further morbidity and mortality. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted among 270 students of 10th standard, belonging to 3 urban schools of Belagavi in 2016 using a structured questionnaire with an intention to assess their knowledge regarding hypertension and its risk factors. Results: Majority students (69.26%) belonged to class II and III of B.G Prasad socio-economic status and 70.37% came from nuclear family. While headache (80%) was the most answered symptom, heart diseases (67%) was the commonly answered complication. Most students had good knowledge regarding prevention and risk factors like unhealthy diet, physical inactivity etc. Majority had fair knowledge about general factors (54.81%), symptoms (41.11%) and complications (34.11%). Knowledge about stress factors (46.67%) and preventive measures (62.22%) was very good. All these differences were statistically significant (p<0.001). Conclusions: The overall knowledge about hypertension and its risk factors among the school students was good (68.52%) and there was significant association between the overall knowledge levels with the mothers education and family history of chronic diseases.