No abstract

The present study was conducted on the university students of Hisar city. 65% students of postgraduate (PG) and 35% students of undergraduate (UG) level were interviewed. Scoring was done for each subject, then a scale was devised and the scores were accordingly classified in good, moderate and poor category. Results revealed that the average score of consciousness level for PG as well as UG student was same i.e., of moderate category. Regarding use of polythene maximum students (68%) show lack of consciousness in spite of their high education level. The same was true for avoiding mosquitoes as 80% students preferred repellent mats, spray or odomos. About the quality of drinking water 75% students were conscious. On the question of use of unleaded vs. leaded petrol and inverter vs. generator, the consciousness levels were quite high. Similarly 78% students appreciated natural beauty and preferred to visit National park/sanctuary or a hill station for recreational purpose. Television and newspaper were the main sources of information for students though interpersonal communication was also important medium to keep people aware regarding environmental issues and to update their knowledge.

In India more than 70% of the population use biomass fuels for cooking. Women, who traditionally carry out the cooking in this culture, experience the highest lifetime Carbon Monoxide (CO) exposure due to the burning of such fuels in traditional stoves. CO levels were measured in this study in the breathing zone atmosphere of cooks during the cooking cycle, using different fuels such as LPG, wood, crop residues and dung cakes, in a rural area of the National Capital Region (NCR) of India. The exhaled breath CO levels of the non-smoking female cooks were also measured before and after cooking. A high degree of correlation was obtained between CO levels during the cooking cycle and exhaled breath CO levels. The study suggests that the enhanced exhaled breath CO levels of the cooks were largely due to the burning of biomass fuels. A high value of R 2 (0.79) was obtained during the model fitting exercise, which suggests the usefulness of fuel-type and cooking location (i.e., indoor/outdoor) as explanatory variables for predicting exhaled breath CO levels among cooks. The prevalence of CO poisoning symptoms was found to be significantly higher among the biomass fuel users. The study demonstrates the potential of the exhaled breath CO technique as a non-invasive, easy and economical alternative for predicting CO exposure due to the burning of biomass fuel in rural settings, where it may not always be possible to collect CO exposure data using the conventional invasive techniques.

In India, child malnutrition is prevalent, especially among the poor and vulnerable. It is mostly the result of high levels of exposure to infection and inappropriate infant and young child feeding and caring practices, and it sets in mostly during the first 2 to 3y of life. Therefore, the present study was done to assess the role of inter personal communication in influencing the infant and young child feeding practices of mothers in an urban slum of Delhi. Case study method was used to document the practices of mothers residing in an urban slum of Delhi, for infant and young child feeding. In most of the cases, it was observed that full potential of health system contact of beneficiary was not utilized for providing appropriate Inter Personal Communication (IPC). It was not able to make proper use of the opportunity to create awareness on nutrition issues, change norms and practices, and persuade mothers/families to make positive behavior change. IPC was not effective, as it was not personalized as per patient's educational level and ability to understand technical information. Though IPC component was better for immunization services, it was weakest for nutrition in case of children younger than 2y. ICDS program implementation lays more emphasis on food supplementation than on nutrition and health education interventions. Thus, role of IPC should be increased manifold to inculcate appropriate feeding practices among mothers to improve nutrition in these children. Health and nutrition messages need to reach every household repeatedly through multiple complementary sources to bring desired behavior-change in the community.

Cooking is central to our lives. Nearly 40% of the world population and about half of population of developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America rely on biomass fuels for their cooking energy needs and 84% of them reside in rural areas. When used in simple cooking stoves, these fuels emit substantial amounts of toxic pollutants that include respirable particles, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and sulfur, benzene, formaldehyde, 1,3-butadiene, and poly aromatic compounds. In households with limited ventilation as is common in rural household of developing countries, exposures experienced by household members have been measured to be many times higher than World Health Organization's indoor air quality guidelines. Due to customary role of woman in cooking, she is exposed more. As children are often carried on their mother's back or lap while the cooking is in progress, they are also exposed to high levels of cooking smoke and therefore are at risk of getting respiratory problems.Research studies give moderate to strong evidence linking household air pollution with chronic lung and other diseases making it a major public health problem of poor nations where it accounts for much of morbidity and over a million deaths annually. Also, fuel gathering adds time and transport burden on women and children, limiting their time for education and other productive work. In addition to health risks, incomplete combustion of biomass fuels are also responsible for greenhouse gas emissions which are the key environmental concern for climate change today.