BackgroundOne of the greatest problems for India is undernutrition among children. The country is still struggling with this problem. Malnutrition, the condition resulting from faulty nutrition, weakens the immune system and causes significant growth and cognitive delay. Growth assessment is the measurement that best defines the health and nutritional status of children, while also providing an indirect measurement of well-being for the entire population.MethodsA cross-sectional study, in which we explored nutritional status in school-age slum children and analyze factors associated with malnutrition with the help of a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and clinical examination from December 2010 to April 2011 in urban slums of Bareilly, Uttar-Pradesh (UP), India.ResultThe mean height and weight of boys and girls in the study group was lower than the CDC 2000 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) standards in all age groups. Regarding nutritional status, prevalence of stunting and underweight was highest in age group 11 yrs to 13 yrs whereas prevalence of wasting was highest in age group 5 yrs to 7 yrs. Except refractive errors all illnesses are more common among girls, but this gender difference is statistically significant only for anemia and rickets. The risk of malnutrition was significantly higher among children living in joint families, children whose mother's education was [less than or equal to] 6th standard and children with working mothers.ConclusionsMost of the school-age slum children in our study had a poor nutritional status. Interventions such as skills-based nutrition education, fortification of food items, effective infection control, training of public healthcare workers and delivery of integrated programs are recommended.

Background:Breastfeeding is one of the most important determinants of child survival, birth spacing, and the prevention of childhood infections. The beneficial effects of breastfeeding depend on its initiation, duration, and the age at which the breastfed child is weaned. Breastfeeding practices vary among different regions and communities.Objectives:To assess the pattern of infant feeding and its relation to certain practices of maternity and newborn care, and to assess the knowledge of mothers on the advantages of exclusive breastfeeding.Materials and Methods:The cross-sectional study was carried out in randomly selected villages of the Bhojipura Block of Bareilly district, Uttar Pradesh. A total of 123 women who had delivered within the last year were interviewed in a house-to-house survey. A study instrument was used to collect data. Chi- square test and regression analysis were used to analyze the data.Results:Most of the mothers were aged less than 30 years (78.04%) and were Hindus (73.9%). Most were illiterate (69.9%) and belonged to the lower socioeconomic class (97.5%). The majority were housewives (99.1%) and multiparous (68.2%). Most had initiated breastfeeding (78.8%) within 24 hours of delivery. About 15.4% of the infants did not receive colostrum and 22.8% of the infants were not exclusively breastfed. Ghutti (water mixed with honey and herbs), boiled water, tea, and animal milk were commonly used pre-lacteal feeds. About 47.2% of the respondents were not aware of the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding. About one quarter of the mothers started complementary feeding before the child was six months old. About half the deliveries had taken place at home and only a quarter of the females had had three or more antenatal visits during pregnancy. The birth weight of the majority (78%) of newborns was not measured. A majority (69.9%) of the mothers did not receive advice on child feeding. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that maternity and newborn care variables had no significant association with exclusive breastfeeding.Conclusions:Despite higher rates of early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding, awareness of the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding was low. This indicates the need to promote awareness of the correct method of infant feeding and care of the newborn. Creating an awareness of the advantages of exclusive breastfeeding will further strengthen and support this common practice in rural communities and avoid an early introduction to complementary foods for sociocultural reasons.

Background:Urinary tract Infection (UTI) is among the most common infections described in outpatient setting and hospital patients. In almost all cases empirical antimicrobial treatment initiates before the laboratory results of urine culture are available; thus antibiotic resistance may increase in uropathogens due to frequent use of antibiotics.Aims:The study was designed to find the prevalence of UTI in females with urinary tract symptoms, to determine the causative organism (s) of UTI, and to determine the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of microbial agents isolated from urine culture (antibiogram).Materials and Methods:The prospective, observational study involved 139 females, aged 15 years and above clinically suspected for UTI attending outpatient Departments of Vivekananda Polyclinic and Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow. A structured questionnaire was used to interview the study subjects. A chi-square test and Fisher Exact test were used to analyze data.Results:The overall prevalence of UTI was found to be 45.32% (63/139). Escherichia coli (33.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (7.9%) were the most common organisms isolated. The most effective antibiotic for both was Nitrofurantoin.Conclusions:Regular monitoring is required to establish reliable information about susceptibility pattern of urinary pathogens for optimal empirical therapy of patients with UTI.

Background: With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are living within a milieu of stress, anxiety, and fear. Medical students are susceptible to these emotional injuries, but their psychological wellbeing and learning may further be assaulted by future uncertainties and altered teaching and training programs. Our objective was to find the extent of the psychological impact of the pandemic and the learning difficulties they are experiencing; Methodology: This cross-sectional study included 418 undergraduate and postgraduate medical students from all over the world. A questionnaire was uploaded in Google survey form. It included background characteristics, questions for psychiatric impact like PHQ-9, GAD-7, ZF-OCS, and questions for learning difficulties perceived in comparison to the pre-pandemic time. Results: Among participants, 34.9% of students were male and 65.1% female. Around 46.4% belonged to the WHO, Eastern Mediterranean region, 26.8% from South East Asia region, 17.5% from the region of America, 5.5% from the European region,2.2%from the Western Pacific region, and 1.7% from the African region. Symptoms due to psychiatric illness were noticed in 393 (93.1%); depression in 386 (92.3%), anxiety in 158 (37.8%), obsessive compulsion disorder in 225 (53.8%), and post-traumatic stress syndrome in 129 (39.9%). Female gender, geographical region, and history of previous psychiatric illness were significantly related to almost all the psychiatric illnesses. Regarding learning difficulty, 96% of students faced problems: trouble with memorizing in 54.0%, concentration problems in 67.0%, about 55.5% of students made more mistakes, while 44.5% noted an increase in reaction time for solving questions. In addition, 90% experienced greater difficulty in overall learning during the pandemic in comparison to the pre-pandemic time. Conclusion: Assault on psychological wellbeing, struggling to memorize, inattention and difficulty in concentration on studies, along with perceived overall trouble with learning, have emerged as collateral damage from the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to medical students.

Background: Hypertension is the most common disorder which is encountered in outdoor patients. The existing data suggests that there is an increase in the prevalence of pre-hypertension and hypertension in India. The prevalence of hypertension will increase even further, unless broad and effective preventive measures are implemented. The main objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of hypertension amongst the adult outdoor patients of an urban health centre of Lucknow district. Materials and Methods: This observational, Out PatientsDepartment based study involved a survey on 306 male and 1203 female respondents who were aged 18 years, who attended the Urban Health Training Centre of the Department of Community Medicine, Era's Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, Lucknow, India. A structured, pretested schedule was used to collect the data with regards to the demographic characteristics and the blood pressure pattern. The Chi-square test and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. Results:The prevalence of hypertension was found to be 44.46%. The proportion of hypertension showed an increasing trend with age. The mean systolic as well as diastolic blood pressure patterns were found to be higher, with an increase in age. Conclusion:Hypertension was found to be highly prevalent among the outdoor patients of an urban health centre of Lucknow. An early detection of hypertension can be facilitated by periodically screening people regularly. BACkgROundThe burden of the chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), especially heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory disease, is rising in the low and the middle-income countries, particularly in Asia [1]. Hypertension is the most common disorder which is being encountered in the outdoor patients [2]. It is an established major risk factor and a leading cause of cardiovascular diseases worldwide. The prevalence of hypertension and its complications are increasing in the developing countries [3]. Cardiovascular diseases will be the largest cause of death and disability in India by 2020 [4]. The economic development, changes in the lifestyle and diet, and an increase in the life expectancy may be attributed to this rapid increase. Hypertension is an iceberg disease. The percentages of the awareness, treatment, and the control of hypertension are unacceptably low in the Indian adult population, as was indicated from a plethora of studies [5][6][7][8].Thus, hypertension is emerging as a major health problem. The prevalence of hypertension has increased more among the urban communities than among the rural people. The prevalence of hypertension will increase even further, unless broad and effective preventive measures are implemented. Prevention programmes and policies are in their infancy in India. Epidemiological studies are urgently needed to assess the prevalence of hypertension, Community Medicine SectionSyed eSaM MahMood, daya PraKaSh, J.P. SrivaStava, Z.h. Zaidi, PanKaJ BhardWaJ to determine the baseline, against which...