Background:Anemia is one of the most common nutritional deficiency disorders affecting the pregnant women in the developing countries. Anemia during pregnancy is commonly associated with poor pregnancy outcome and can result in complications that threaten the life of both mother and fetus.Objective:The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women and to determine its association with maternal and fetal outcomes.Settings and Design:This study design was a prospective, observational, community-based study.Subjects and Methods:Four hundred and forty-six pregnant women were included in the study from three primary health centers in Kolar district by multistage sampling technique and were followed up till 1 week after delivery.Statistical Analysis:The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22; correlation coefficient, Chi-square test, and logistic regression were used.Results:There was a significant overall improvement in the hemoglobin levels of pregnant during the follow-up (10.3–10.72 gm%). About 35.6% of the women had maternal or fetal morbidity. Anemia was one of the main pregnancy-related complications (62.3%), other complications include difficult labor (3%), postpartum hemorrhage, and preeclampsia 1.6% each abortions/stillbirths (3.5%). The fetal complications include low birth weight (25.5%) followed by premature delivery (0.2%) and birth asphyxia (0.5%).Conclusions:A high prevalence of anemia in pregnant women apparently increases the maternal and fetal risks. To improve maternal and fetal outcome, it is recommended that the primary health care has to be strengthened, prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of anemia in pregnancy to be given priority.

Background: Anemia is the most common hematological disorder during pregnancy. According to the reports of World Health Organization reports, from 35% to 75% (56% on average) of the pregnant women in developing countries are anemic. Prevalence of anemia in South Asian countries is among the highest in the world. India has the highest prevalence of anemia (87%). Objective: To determine the prevalence of anemia and factors influencing its causation among pregnant women. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 446 pregnant women from July 2013 to June 2014 in the rural population of Kolar district, Karnataka, India. The study participants were selected by using multistage sampling method. The hemoglobin estimation was done by using HemoCue method, and data were collected in a pretested questionnaire. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 22. The χ 2-test and correlation coefficient was used to test the degree of significance. Result: A high prevalence (64%) of anemia was observed among pregnant women. The mean hemoglobin level was found to be 10.3 ± 1.53 g%, ranging from 5 to 15 g%. Anemia was predominantly observed among below poverty line families (59.4%) compared with above poverty line families (5.4%). The prevalence of anemia increased with increase in gestational age and gravida and decreased with increase in birth interval. Conclusion: High prevalence of anemia among pregnant women indicates anemia to be a major public health problem in the rural community. Factors such as socioeconomic status, birth interval, and gravida contribute to this high prevalence.

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Background: Adolescence is the phase of rapid transition of the body. The requirement of all minerals and vitamins changes in this phase of life so does Vitamin D. Despite Vitamin D being abundantly available, its deficiency, which can cause innumerable side effects on the body, is extremely common among the general population.Material and methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study carried out from January 2021 to July 2022 for two years at various government rural high schools in Kolar, Karnataka, India. All adolescents who were aged 11-18 years and studying in 9 th and 10 th standards were included in the study after consent and assent. Adolescent boys and girls with any pre-existing mental health illness were excluded from the study. To assess depression, Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI-II) was used. Vitamin D3 levels were assessed by using VITROS Immunodiagnostic products using a 25-OH Total reagent pack. All data were entered in a Microsoft Excel sheet (Redmond, USA) and analyzed using IBM Corp. Released 2013. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. To check for the association between factors, Chi-square was applied with a level of significance defined as a p-value less than 0.05.Results: Out of 451 students, 272 (60.3%) belonged to the 15-year age group, 224 (49.7%) were boys, 235 (52.1%) were studying in 10 th standard, 323 (71.6 %) belonged to nuclear families, 379 (84%) were nonvegetarian by diet, 222 (49.2%) had sun exposure in the afternoon, and 156 (34.6%) had a sun exposure of fewer than 60 minutes, 133 (29.5%) had severe depression according to Beck's Depression Inventory-II. One hundred sixty-two (35.9%) had insufficient Vitamin D3 levels (12-20 ng/ml), and 66 (14.6%) had deficient levels of Vitamin D3 (less than 12 ng/dl). There was a statistically significant association between depression and Vitamin D3 levels.Conclusion: There are innumerable causes of adolescent depression. The present study shows Vitamin D levels were statistically associated with depression among adolescents. Vitamin D supplementation of at least 600 international units, which is the recommended dietary allowance (RDA), could be beneficial in tackling Vitamin D to sufficiency status (20-100 ng/ml) and also indirectly address Adolescent Depression. Better study designs, like randomized control trials showing Vitamin D intervention and its possible curative role in adolescent depression, are required to establish the causal association.

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