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Background: The mounting trends of beauty perceptions have contributed to distorted body image among adolescents. This demands understanding about current pointers of body image satisfaction to prevent eating disorders associated with mismanagement of weight in adolescents. Aim & Objective: The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to apprehend body image perception and dissatisfaction among adolescents (12-14years) across the genders and associate it with their actual BMI along with identifying the factors influencing body image perception. Settings and Design: A structured questionnaire was developed and administered on randomly selected 112 adolescents (68% boys & 34% girls, 12-14 years), mean age=12.8 ±0.45 from urban coeducational school of western India. Anthropometric measurements were taken with standardized tools and BMI z-scores were calculated. The actual and perceived weight was compared using paired t-test and descriptive statistics. Association between body image indicators, gender, and BMI were assessed using Chi-square test and One-way ANOVA. Factor analysis was done by Principal component analysis. Results: There was a significant difference in the perceived (M=2.31, SD=0.93) and actual BMI (M=1.96, SD=0.69), p=0.002. A significant association between gender and the influence of media idols, discrimination due to physical appearance and BMI was observed (p≤.0.005). Self-perception and judgements of others, behaviors related with self-fixation, social influence and inappropriate dietary practices and comparison with models and actors were the emerging factors identified. Conclusion: The body image perception was distorted among adolescents of both sexes, with higher body image discontent shown by girls. The perceived body image, when compared with their BMI was found to be incongruent across sexes.

Calorie counting mobile apps claim to assist in weight management by helping users monitor their diets and track activity. This study assessed quality and effectiveness of popular calorie counting apps in weight management and behaviour change. Top 20 apps were selected from Google Play store and their quality was assessed using a 55-point scoring scale on attributes like standards used, content accuracy, user interface and sources of database. The mean (±SD (standard deviation)) quality score was 36.95 (±5.65). The calorie and activity recommendations were compared with standards and over 65 per cent apps over/underestimated calorie intake. To assess effectiveness, 60 young volunteers were recruited and divided into two groups. The intervention group (n = 30) was asked to use one of the top 3 apps for 8 weeks. Pre- and post-comparisons were made with the control group (n = 28). No significant difference was noted in anthropometry or food consumption. There was increasing trend (13.33%) in physical activity in the intervention group.

Micronutrient deficiencies, majorly iron, iodine, vitamin-A, pose a serious threat to public health in many developing countries, including India. A surfeit of nutrition and health programs was developed to address micronutrient malnutrition in India, covering many aspects of lifecycle. The importance of nutrition education and communication is emphasized in public health nutrition policies. Concomitantly, there is a surge in various interventional studies with the integration of nutrition education and communication. However, there is a lack of clarity on the overall impact of community level nutrition education/communication interventions on micronutrient (mal)nutrition in India, which may be due to the lack of critical evaluation of the nutrition education/communication components in these studies. Given this background, this article reviews the studies conducted in the last two decades in India. This systematic review identified and analyzed the studies that aimed to use nutrition education an...

Given the context that undernutrition in India co-exists with the problems of overweight/obesity and associated non-communicable diseases as well as micronutrient deficiencies, integrating nutritional concerns in developmental policies and governance is gaining significance. There are many schemes implemented to tackle malnutrition in India, but creating synergy and linking these schemes with each other to achieve a common goal are lacking. Nutrition communication can be an important component to create the synergy required to change malnourished India to malnutrition-free India. Although nutrition education/communication is recognized as a necessary component in various national nutrition programmes, there is not much evidence of distinct evaluation of these components. Only a minor proportion of community nutrition research has been devoted to nutrition education and communication. Although there are scattered efforts in experimenting with newer communication approaches and media for promoting nutrition, there is a dearth of published literature. In this review an attempt was made to critically examine the nutrition education and communication research and practice with special focus on India. This review provides a historical perspective of evolution of nutrition education and communication with an overview of communication approaches, media, methods and technologies used in various research studies and programmes as well as the lessons learnt.

Background: Newspapers are an important form of Mass media which plays significant role in health promotion, and is crucial for social development. Studies revealed that newspaper reports lacked consistency in presenting nutrition research results to the readers. A study was conducted with a hypothesis “Newspapers often highlight nutrition research findings disproportionately in order to draw reader’s attention”. Objective: To assess presentation of nutrition research findings/ outcomes by newspapers as compared to the original research papers on which they are based. Method: The top six popular newspapers in India were selected for the study. A scale was evolved based on 10 parameters for gauging accuracy of the reports. Results: A total of 214 reports were identified as based or claimed on nutrition research in all the above six newspapers. One-fourth of the newspaper reports did not conveyed nutrition research results properly. Few reports were found as contrary to the original findings on which they were based on. Almost one-fifth of the reports have no mention of the source, which denies access to the reader for the original report. Usually, any research or scientific study has its own limitations. But, this vital aspect is missing in the newspapers reports on nutrition research. Conclusions: With emphasis on short, "newsworthy" pieces, the media often only report the results of single studies, and many stories are chosen simply because the results run contrary to current health recommendations. Scientists need to help translate their research for consumers. Key words:, Print media, Nutrition, Research translation, Health communication. Key words: Newspapers, Nutrition, Research translation, Health communication.

This world health day, celebrated on 7th April, the World Health Organization (WHO) has brought food safety to the centre stage with the theme ‘Food safety - from farm to plate, make food safe’. This is a call for increased attention to food safety and its potential impact on public health, food security, and food trade competitiveness of countries1. From the days of policies working towards sheer food security as a solution to the problems of malnutrition to broad basing them to take cognizance of nutrition security, food safety was always considered an addendum to nutrition2. Today, in the context of the challenges posed by the changing patterns of food production, distribution and consumption in the increasingly globalizing economies such as ours, food safety has come to be top on priority3. Now is the time nutrition is integrated inextricably with food safety and both should be seen as integral parts of nutrition as well as food safety promotion policies and programmes. Given the background of the current nutritional problems in India, we propose that the scope of food safety or the term safe food should be expanded to include what we call ‘nutrition safety’. Here we also argue why India needs a more culture and context sensitive perspective for ensuring food safety.

Objective: To assess knowledge and use of label information among adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescents (N ¼ 316) from 6 schools selected randomly using cluster sampling. A pre-coded questionnaire was used to assess frequently consumed packaged foods, whether label information was read, knowledge of symbols, and usefulness of nutrition information display. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. Results: Although 88% of adolescents read food labels, many read only date of manufacture (79%), expiration (74%) or best used before dates (65%). Fewer adolescents read ingredients (50%) and nutrition information (20%). Their knowledge about quality symbols was low. Many of them (over 60%) recognized the symbols but had no knowledge of what they indicated. About 66% believed that nutrition information on labels was too complex to understand. Conclusions and Implications: There is a need to provide education on different aspects of label information to promote label use. The effectiveness of alternative methods of nutrition information display should also be investigated.

Health communication in the changing media landscape , Health communication in the changing media landscape , کتابخانه دیجیتال دانشگاه علوم پزشکی اصفهان

Objective To understand food safety knowledge, perceptions, and practices of adolescent girls. Design Focus group discussions (FGDs) with 32 groups selected using stratified random sampling. Setting Four South Indian states. Participants Adolescent girls (10-19 years). Phenomena of Interest Food safety knowledge, perceptions, and practices. Analyses FGDs were audio recorded, transcribed, and manually coded by topic. At each stage of coding and analysis, reports were read independently by 3 researchers. Results were presented according to 4 food safety topics: concept of safe food; home-cooked food or outside food; packaged food products and food labels; and previous exposure to food safety education. Results Subjects confused the concept of nutrition with food safety. They were checking food labels, but they were not aware of quality symbols like ISI (Bureau of Indian Standards), FPO (Fruit Products Order), and AGMARK (Agriculture Marking and Grading Act); trusted more in brand names/expensive packaged food; were less careful about snack food safety. Receiving food safety information through school health education was preferred. Conclusions and Implications Adolescent girls are not aware of food quality standards. Awareness needs to be raised on permitted food additives concerning which foods can use them. Children should be familiarized with quality symbols on food labels.

This study examines the competency of E-E approach for nutrition education with an aim to understand its effectiveness for nutrition promotion. A systematic review was conducted by using suitable key-words and sourcing published literature from select search engines like PubMed, Google Scholar, EBSCO Host and Google. The inclusion criterion was predefined to include Indian studies that used audio-visual aids, multimedia games, internet, television and radio for education of community/health workers/stakeholders on maternal, child and adolescent nutrition.

Objectives To assess the differences in risk perceptions of overweight/obese and normal-weight adolescents about obesity and associated risk factors. Design Qualitative study using focus group discussions (FGDs). Settings Five randomly selected schools from the South Indian city of Hyderabad. Participants Seventy-nine adolescents (ages 11–14 years) participated in 10 FGDs (5 each with overweight/obese and normal-weight groups). Phenomenon of Interest Whether obesity-related risk perceptions differ with actual weight status or not. Analysis FGDs were recorded, transcribed, and manually coded for thematic analysis. Results were presented according to 6 themes. At each stage of coding and analysis, reports were read independently by 2–3 researchers and the inter-coder reliability was high (ratio of number of agreements against the sum of agreements plus disagreements was over 90%). Results Adolescents across the groups had limited understanding of nutrition during adolescence as well as causes and consequences of obesity. The optimistic bias that they were less vulnerable compared to others to the risks of obesity was evident from perceptions of overweight groups. While overweight adolescents argued that obesity was hereditary, the normal-weight participants perceived “faulty food habits” and laziness as the reasons. Adolescents across the groups considered fruits and vegetables as healthy foods. Conclusions and Implications There were clear differences in perceptions of adolescents of different weight status. Employing the risk perception analysis framework, this study identified the following adolescent traits: responsive, avoidance, and indifference, which may be useful for developing nutrition communication programs.

The Lancet Global Health, Volume 1, Issue 5, Pages e254 - e255, November 2013[Close]doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(13)70088-3Copyright © 2013 Gavaravarapu et al. Open Access article distributed under the terms of CC BY-NC-SA Published by ElsevierLtd. All rights reserved.Comment on this article: Join the debate and follow the discussion on The Lancet Global Health Blog.

ObjectiveTo study consumer knowledge and use of food labels.DesignA cross-sectional study employing both quantitative and qualitative methods. Intercept interviews were conducted with 1832 consumers at supermarket sites selected using a stratified random sampling procedure. This information was triangulated with twenty-one focus group discussions.SettingNew Delhi and Hyderabad, two metro-cities from north and south India.SubjectsAdolescent (10–19 years), adult (20–59 years) and elderly (≥60 years) consumers.ResultsWhile the national urban literacy rate is 84 %, about 99 % of the study participants were educated. About 45 % reported that they buy pre-packaged foods once weekly and about a fifth buy them every day. Taste, quality, convenience and ease of use are the main reasons for buying pre-packaged foods. Although 90 % of consumers across the age groups read food labels, the majority (81 %) looked only for the manufacturing date or expiry/best before date. Of those who read labels, only a third checked nutrition information and ingredients. Nutrient information on labels was not often read because most consumers either lacked nutrition knowledge or found the information too technical to understand. About 60 % read quality symbols. A positive association was found between education level and checking various aspects of food labels. Women and girls concerned about ‘fat’ and ‘sugar’ intake read the nutrition facts panel.ConclusionsThe intention of promoting healthy food choices through use of food labels is not being completely met. Since a majority of people found it difficult to comprehend nutrition information, there is a need to take up educational activities and/or introduce new forms of labelling.

A significant proportion of foodborne diseases arise from practices in home kitchens. Not only how food is handled but also how it is stored determines its safety. The current study aimed to assess knowledge and practices of households related to storage of foods in refrigerator and identify key messages to promote safe storage practices. A cross-sectional study employing mixed methods (combination of quantitative and qualitative methods) was carried out among households who owned refrigerators. Quantitative data on knowledge and practices were collected from women (n=120) who were responsible for cooking and storing foods at household level using a pretested questionnaire and qualitative data on status of the refrigerators was collected using non-participant observation technique. Leftover foods stored in refrigerators for > 24h were collected from a sub-sample (n=18) to assess the presence of food pathogens. Over 34.2% preserved leftover non-vegetarian foods at room temperature. About 65% stored leftover foods in refrigerators for >24h. Only 10% cleaned the refrigerator every week and about 20% had knowledge of the working temperature of the refrigerators. There was a significant association (P

With over 204 million undernourished people and more than 10% of its population overweight or obese, India is confronting the double burden of malnutrition. The prevalence of these problems is partly attributable to low awareness of nutrition. Nutrition education is an accessible and effective tool for developing healthful nutrition-related practices. There is a wide array of teaching methods and communication tools— such as lectures, group discussions, flip charts, posters, and so on—that can be employed to impart nutrition education to the community. In this process, if young people, especially students, are given nutrition education, they can act as change agents by spreading the messages to a large segment of population. If students are community service volunteers, the benefits are likely to be greater. The National Service Scheme (NSS), a youth service program, has been in operation in Indian colleges for over 3 decades. This program aims to create social consciousness among youth and has an overall objective of holistic development through experiential exposure by way of community service. Community service programs in the NSS include adopting villages or slums and conducting awareness programs on various issues including health and nutrition, as well as rendering voluntary service for improving community living conditions. If these volunteers are given nutrition knowledge using reproducible communication methods, they can spread nutrition awareness to the community.