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Background: Upper-body subcutaneous adipose tissue, measured by neck circumference (NC), has been positively associated with hypertension (HT). This study was conducted with the objective to correlate and evaluate NC with HT and to define critical cut-off point for screening HT in adult population of central India. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out in the urban filed practice area of Government Medical College Nagpur. All patients attending OPD during study period, aged >30 years after applying exclusion criteria were included in study. Sample size was calculated to be 182. The socioeconomic details were assessed using questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements and blood pressure were recorded using standard guidelines. Data was analysed using Epi Info 7 and SPSS. Unpaired t test, Pearsons correlation and finally ROC analysis was done. Results: Out of total 206 individuals, 107 were male; majority being aged >50 years. The mean value of NC was 36.43±3.23 cm and 34.84±4.07 cm in hypertensive and non-hypertensives respectively and was seen significantly associated with HT (p=0.02). Positive correlation was seen between SBP and NC in male r=0.27 and in females r=0.26 (p=0.001).On applying ROC, AUC for male and female was 0.652 (p=0.007) and 0.68 (p = 0.002) respectively and the best cutoff for male was 36.5cm and female was 33.5cm with sensitivity of 74% and 72.71% respectively. Conclusions: NC is positively correlated with hypertension. NC >36.5cm for males and >33.5cm for females was the best cut-off levels for screening for HT. NC could be a potential, inexpensive, easy screening tool for screening HT.

Background: Tuberculosis is major public health problem especially in the low and middle income countries like India. We conducted a study to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice related to tuberculosis among the patients attending our tertiary care institute. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital on the patients attending OPD of tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra. The patients with debilitating illness or bed bound patients and those diagnosed and cured of tuberculosis or were on treatment of tuberculosis were excluded from the study. A pretested and designed questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice about the cause, clinical features and treatment of tuberculosis. Results: The mean age of the study subjects was 43.34±11.23 years with male: female ratio of 1.45. About 16.67% of the subjects stated that cause of TB is bacteria, 51.33% reported that cough was the most common symptom, 58.67% believed that it spreads from person to person and among the people who said it spreads 58.67% said that it can be preventable. Conclusions: About 1/5 th of the study subjects expressed the cause of TB is bacteria or germs, and more than ½ believed that TB spreads from person to person. About 2/3 rd of the patients felt that TB was a very serious disease; more than ½ of them expressed fear if they were diagnosed with TB but more than ½ of them also expressed rejection if they have a TB patient as a closed one.

Introduction: India is facing a dual burden of overweight/obesity and under nutrition among children less than 5 years of age. Neck circumference is recently studied marker for malnutrition among adults and older children. Objective: To correlate neck circumference with body mass index and to associate it with wasting and underweight status. Material & Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among children less than 5 years of age attending the outpatient setup of a tertiary care setup in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Demographic details and anthropometric measurements were done for the children with necessary permission before the start of the study. Anthropometry was done using standard guidelines and WHO charts were used for classification of wasting and underweight Results: We included 260 study subjects in our study. The mean age of the children was 21.55 ± 17.31 months and majority of them were females, belonged to Hindu religion (58.07%), belonged to Class 4 (33.08%) and the mothers were educated up to senior secondary (34.62%). Neck circumference had significant positive correlation with birth weight (r=0.138) and body mass index (r=0.211). The average neck circumference was significantly lower in case of wasted (p

Background: Overweight and obesity has become an important public health problem in both developed and developing nations. This is even more alarming as obese children are likely to become obese adults. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in a government aided school in urban area of Nagpur, Maharashtra during January 2016 to April 2016. This study was conducted in students of age group of 9 to 15 years to assess the association of birth weight and body mass index of school children. Height and weight of the children were measured according to standard guidelines. BMI was calculated and classified using the percentile charts according to age and gender. Data was collected using EPI Info version 7.2. Descriptive statistics using frequencies and percentages were used. Chi square test was used to indicate the differences between two proportions. Odds ratio was used to define the strength of the association. Results: The mean age of children was 11.92±1.27 and 11.31±1.27 in males and females respectively. In our study, there was a significant positive association between the birth weight and body mass index of the children. Conclusions: We found that the children whose birth weight was lower than 2500 grams were having decreased risk of being overweight/ obese in their later life with an odds ratio of 0.55 (0.34 to 0.90). But, the correlation between the birth weight and body mass index is weakly positive (r=0.063).

Background: Childhood obesity is a serious public health concern in both developed and developing countries. The children share food habits, physical activity habits etc. with their parents either in term of genetic or environmental influences, which affects the body mass index of the children. The objective of this study was to study the association of parental overweight/obesity with overweight/obesity in the children.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a government aided school in Nagpur during January 2016 to April 2016. Data was collected by a self-administered questionnaire which had information regarding the socio demographic characteristics like age, sex, socio economic status etc. Anthropometric measurements like height and weight of the children and their parents were measured. Necessary permissions were sought before the start of the study.Results: We found a significant association (p

Background: In spite of the interventions being taken, low birth weight still persists as a public health problem in low and middle-income countries. World Health Organization defines low birth weight as birth weight less than 2500 gm. There is a constant search to find newer methods to detect low birth weight babies so that early methods can be instituted. This study was conducted to evaluate calf circumference as procedure to screen low birth weight babies in tertiary care hospital in Nagpur. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in tertiary care hospital of Nagpur, Maharashtra for a period of 4 months. The study subjects were babies delivered at the hospital. Birth weight was recorded using a digital weighing scale within 24 hours of the delivery. Length, calf circumference, head and chest circumference were measured according to standard guidelines. Results: Majority of mothers were in the age group of 20 to 24 years of age group, were educated up to primary school and belonged to Hindu religion. The mean calf circumference of low birth weight babies was 9.64±1.13 cm and was 10.96±1.01 cm in normal weight babies. The mean values of calf circumference were significantly lower in low birth weight babies (p

Background: Hypertension is a silent killer and global public health problem. With the advent of globalization affecting the lifestyle of the population, non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes etc. is affecting the young adults (18 to 40 years). The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of hypertension and its associated risk factors among young adults (18 to 40 years) attending a tertiary care centre of Nagpur.Methods: This was a cross sectional study on 370 participants of age 18 to 40 years attending the outpatient department of urban health training centre in Nagpur. Data was collected using pretested and pre designed questionnaire and anthropometric measurements were done by standard guidelines. Blood pressure was measured using sphygmomanometer in sitting position. Data was analyzed using Epi info version 7.2. Chi square test/ fisher’s exact test has been used to find the difference between two proportions. Unadjusted odds ratio was calculated for various risk factors studied. Stepwise logistic regression analysis was done to calculate the adjusted odds ratio. Results: The prevalence of hypertension was found to be 23.24%. The prevalence was higher among males (25%) when compared to females (22.3%). Body mass index and waist hip ratio were significantly higher among the hypertensive when compared to normotensive study population (p

Background: Three fourth of the world’s death burden is shared by low to middle income countries due to non-communicable diseases. Physical inactivity is one of the important preventable risk factor in non-communicable diseases. It amounts to 4 th leading risk factor for global mortality. Hence, this study was conducted to study the physical activity level and its correlates among adult patients attending health training centres in Nagpur. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among adult patients attending the health centres of Indira Gandhi Government Medical College. Pregnant women, lactating women, debilitated patients and patients not giving consent were excluded from the study. A preformed and pretested questionnaire was used to conduct the interviews which included socio-demographic variables like age, sex, and educational status. Anthropometric measurements and blood pressure were measured according to the standard guidelines. The physical activity level was calculated using the principles of 1985 FAO/WHO/UNU expert consultation (WHO, 1985). Results: Of 200 study subjects, 59% were having a sedentary lifestyle, 27% were having a moderately active lifestyle and 14% were having a vigorously active lifestyle. A statistically significant increasing trend for sedentary study subjects (p =0.002 with age was found. Those who reported sedentary physical activity levels had 3.42 odds of being hypertensive, 7.44 times odds of being diabetic, 3 times odds of being overweight and 2.41 odds of being obese. The adults in urban areas were having significantly less physical activity levels when compared rural areas. Conclusions: Higher levels of sedentary lifestyle were found in urban areas compared to rural areas. As the age increased the sedentary lifestyle was having a significantly increasing trend. Physical activity was associated with the diabetic status, hypertensive status, and obesity status.

Background: Malnutrition is an important public health problem which involves infants and children. It is a self-perpetuating problem which affects the mental and physical development of the child. The basic tool to quantify this burden is growth assessment in the form of anthropometry which is done under a national program called Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Objectives: The present study was conducted to review and compare the prevalence of stunting and wasting, in rural and urban central India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on rural (n=100) and urban (n=100), Anganwadi children for two months. All Anganwadi children (3-6 years) who were available at the time of examination and children below three 3 years of age at house visit were included in the study. Children with congenital defects were excluded from the study. A pretested and predesigned questionnaire was used to collect the data. Height and weight were measured according to standard guidelines. Data was analyzed using Epi Info version 7. Results: In our study, the prevalence of stunting was found to be 37% and 22% in rural and urban areas respectively. The prevalence of wasting was found to be 33% and 20% in rural and urban areas respectively. There was a significant difference between grades of stunting (p=0.01) and wasting (p =0.05) among rural and urban children. Conclusion: In spite of the efforts taken by the government to cut down the rates of stunting and wasting through various programs, the effects of malnutrition still persists.