Anaemia is a global health problem and its impact is felt in Sri Lanka as well. Anaemia is characterized by less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. Anaemia occurs at all stages of life, but is particularly prevalent in women of reproductive age, pregnant women and children. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of anaemia in two rapidly developing administrative units in Southern Province of Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hungama and Hiththatiya middle administrative units in the Hambantota and Matara districts of Southern province of Sri Lanka. Females between 20-50 years of age (n=152 from each area) were selected by simple random sampling and 2 ml of venous blood was withdrawn from each subject and analysed for haemoglobin concentration by cyanmethaemoglobin method. Anaemia was defined as a haemoglobin level less than 115.0 g/L. Overall prevalence of anaemia (Haemoglobin<114.9 g/L) was 3.94% and 5.26% for Hiththatiya middle and Hungama grama niladhari areas, respectively. There was no significant difference between prevalence of anaemia in the two administrative units (P >0.05). Age wise 87.5% of anaemic people are over 40 years. Prevalence of anaemia is significantly less in the two Grama Niladhari areas compared to national data and there is no statistically significant difference between the prevalence of anaemia between the two areas. Thus there may be pockets in Sri Lanka where anaemia may not be a major health problem as compared to the rest of the country.

Peperomia pellucida (L.) Kunth (Family Piperaceae) has been utilizing in folk medicine for many years worldwide and much research have been devoted. This review focused to summarize updated most interesting findings on the morphological, phytochemical, ethnopharmacological and toxicological aspects obtained in the research related to the plant. Local communities around the world have been consumed this plant as a leafy vegetable and in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders including dysentery, diarrhoea, stomachache; respiratory tract disorders including asthma, nasopharyngeal infections, cough; skin diseases including eczema, wounds, abscess, acne, boils, scabies, dermatitis, rash, sores, scar, and warts, mucosae tumors and other ailments such as fever, paralysis, epilepsy, convulsions, heart problems, hypertension, kidney disorders, gout, rheumatic pain, conjunctivitis, and measles. This species has been extensively investigated as a source of natural pharmacologically active compounds with potential antimicrobial, anticancer, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic, antidiarrhoeal, antihypertensive and anti-oedematogenic activities. Phytochemical screenings on the plant have revealed the presence of various pharmacologically active principles of medical importance including tannins, flavonoids (acacetin, apigenin, isovitexin, and pellucidatin), cardiac and xanthone (Patuloside A) glycosides, alkaloids (secolignans, tetrahydrofuranlignans, peperomins A, B, C, and E, sesamin, and isoswertisin), saponins, inulins, terpenes, phenolic compounds, phytosterols (stigmasterol, sitosterol, and campesterol) and other steroids, and resins. P. pellucida also contains several essential oils, mainly dillapiole, β-caryophyllene, and carotol. The acute toxicity results revealed that this plant might be considered as a non-toxic plant with high therapeutic index. Much additional work is needed to open new biomedical application of these compounds.

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Obesity and abdominal obesity are becoming major public health problem in certain countries. Causes for obesity are multi-factorial; among them various dietary factors play an important role. The main cause of obesity-related deaths is cardiovascular disease, for which abdominal obesity is a predisposing factor [1]. Abdominal obesity is defined as Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) above 0.90 for males and above 0.85 for females [2]. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a parameter that is useful in assessing obesity, overweight and malnutrition. The study aimed to assess the association between anthropometric measurements and the dietary habits in a female population of two study areas. A cross-sectional study was conducted separately at Hungama and Hiththatiya-Middle areas within Hambantota and Matara districts of Southern province of Sri Lanka. 304 healthy females between 20-50 years of age were selected by systematic random sampling method. For the calculation of BMI and WHR, height and weight, Waist Circumference (WC) and Hip Circumference (HC) of each individual were measured. The World Health Organization cut-off points were used to categorize BMI and WHR. An interviewer administered questionnaire was used to assess dietary habits. There is a statistically significant difference between the WHR and consumption of potato (p= 0.002) in Hungama as well as significant difference can be seen between WHR and consumption of red raw rice (p= 0.022) and white raw rice (p= 0.020) in Hiththatiya middle. Present study shows statistically positive relationship between the BMI and consumption of potato (p= 0.002) yogurt (p= 0.046) and fried food (p=0.033) in the total study population. Prevalence of obesity (6.6%) and abdominal obesity (47%) in whole population are higher with compared with other similar studies [3].