Background: Under nutrition is one of the most imperative problems among children that needed to be addressed in the realm of public health. Undernourished children cannot maintain natural biological abilities, such as growth, recuperating from ailments, learning and physical development. Poor feeding practices along with illnesses like diarrhoea, pneumonia, helminthic infections etc. are major determinants of under nutrition in India. The tribal populations in India are identified to be the autochthonous people of the land thereby being one of the major sufferers of under nutrition. This study aimed at finding out the prevalence of under nutrition among under-five children in tribal population in Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu.Methods: This community based cross-sectional analytical study was done among Malayali Tribes population of Puthur village, Pachamalai Hills, Trichy to determine the prevalence of under-nutrition using CIAF and WHO Z scoring system and its risk factors by multivariate analysis.Results: Out of 100 children, about 85% were undernourished as per CIAF criteria. In the Multivariate analysis, children of employed mother and children who were not given exclusive breast feeding were associated with Under nutrition which was statistically significant (p<0.05).Conclusions: CIAF could be considered as a better measure than any other single index to identify the problem in the community. The study also emphasizes the significance of proper IYCF practices among employed mothers and improvement of MCH services in Tribal population during antenatal and immediate postnatal period to bring down the prevalence of under nutrition.

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Background: Lymphatic filariasis is an important public health problem worldwide. Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) is based on two strategies (1) interrupt transmission and (2) morbidity management to reduce the disability. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge and practice of morbidity management among lymphatic filariasis patients. Materials and Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted for 2 months between May and June 2015 among 66 lymphatic filariasis patients. Structured questionnaire was used for the interview and the results were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Result: Of the 66 patients, 39 (59%) were males and 27 (41%) were females. Mean duration of disease was 17.2 years. Majority (98.5%) of the patients had lymphedema of lower limb. Sixty three (95%) patients know about the importance of limb hygiene but only 46 (69%) patients practice it regularly. Only 6% patients check regularly for entry lesions. Though 56 patients (85%) had knowledge about limb elevation and exercise, only 33 (50%) and 14 (22%) patients practice regular limb elevation and exercise, respectively. Almost 50% patients know about the importance of wearing appropriate footwear but only 22% use if even when they are indoor. Conclusion: It is encouraging to note that majority (95%) of the patients practice at least one method of morbidity management but still there is existence of gap between knowledge and practice of lymphedema management. Converting knowledge into practice has to be emphasized.

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Background: Self-directed learning (SDL) is defined as an instructional stratagem where the medical students, with guidance from the teacher, choose what and how they will learn. The current study is aimed at finding the readiness for SDL among medical students and its association with their socio demographic characteristics.Methods: An Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 II Bachelor of medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students and 100 III MBBS students of Theni Government Medical College. The readiness assessment of the students was found by using Fischer’s 40 items SDL readiness score (SDLRS) instruments. The instrument has 40 items under three domains self-management (9 items), desire for learning (16 items) and self-control (15 items).Results: Only 29% were aware of SDL. Around 55% showed high readiness for SDL (>150). Females had higher readiness for self-directed learning than males (60.9% versus 39.1%) but the mean SDLR score was similar 152.5 versus 151.6. III MBBS medical students had higher score than II MBBS medical students (58.2% versus 48.8%, mean SDLR score 149.9 versus 154.2, p=0.011). Demonstrating higher readiness for SDL was not associated with area of residence, stay, presence of doctor in the family, type of schooling, medium of school education, age and gender.Conclusions: There is need of hour to address medical students’ SDL skills to update their competencies. SDL readiness scales help medical faculty to assess students’ learning capabilities and improve teaching learning strategies.