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Objective: High burden of anaemia exists amongst rural adolescent girls in India. The objective of this study was to characterise anaemia in school going adolescent girls in rural Haryana, India. Design: Linear and multiple logistic regression analysis of data collected prior to an intervention trial was conducted. Participants were classified into anaemic (haemoglobin <12 g/dl) and non-anaemic group and were further classified into deficiencies of Fe, folate or vitamin B12, mixed, anaemia of other causes and inflammation. Setting: Three schools in Ballabgarh block of Faridabad District, Haryana, India. Participants: One hundered and ninety-eight non-anaemic and 202 anaemic adolescent girls (12–19 years). Results: Anaemic girls had 29·6 % Fe deficiency, 28·1 % folate or vitamin B12 deficiency, 15·8 % mixed deficiency and 9·7 % acute inflammation. Anaemia of other causes was found in 16·8 % of the anaemic participants. Girls with Fe and isolated folate deficiency had 2·5 times and four times higher odds of developing anaemia, respectively, as compared with non-anaemic girls. Fe deficiency with no anaemia was found amongst 11 % non-anaemic girls. Non-anaemic girls had a high prevalence of combined deficiency of folate or vitamin B12 (29·5 %) and acute inflammation (14·4 %). Conclusions: The current strategy of Fe and folic acid supplementation alone will not suffice for achieving the desired reduction in the prevalence of anaemia as unknown causes and anaemia of inflammation contribute to a substantial proportion of anaemia. Integrating other nutrition-specific components like improving water, sanitation and hygiene practices with the ongoing micronutrient supplementation program will comprehensively tackle anaemia. Unknown causes of anaemia warrant further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Malnutrition is associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality amongst elderly population. Lack of scientific evidence exists on the status of malnutrition amongst elderly population residing at high altitude regions of Uttarakhand, India. Materials and methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in high altitude regions of District Nainital. A total of 980 elderly subjects were selected from 30 clusters identified using population proportionate to size sampling method. Nutritional status of the elderly population was assessed using Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) tool. Data was entered in MS Excel 2007 and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: The results of MNA revealed that 14.3% of the elderly subjects were malnourished. High prevalence of malnutrition was found among subjects who were illiterate (74.5%), financially dependent (75.2%), belonged to low monthly income (43.3%) had poor appetite (71.6%) and chewing problems (63.1%); (p<0.0001). Conclusions: High prevalence of malnutrition was present amongst the elderly population in India. There is a need for timely assessment of malnutrition for maintenance of nutritional status and prevention of chronic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The present study was conducted to assess the association of tobacco and alcohol consumption with cardiovascular risk factors among elderly population living at high altitude regions of India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1003 elderly people living in district Nainital, Uttarakhand state, India. Thirty subjects were identified from 30 villages using population proportionate to size sampling methodology. The data on the consumption of tobacco and alcohol, mini nutritional assessment, Barthel activities of daily living scale, height, weight, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, triglycerides, and total cholesterol was collected. Results: We found that smoking tobacco was associated with high cholesterol, lower body mass index, and low nutritional status (all, P < 0.05). Elderly subjects who consumed alcohol had 1.56 times higher risk of having high fasting blood glucose. Conclusions: Consumption of tobacco and alcohol increased the risk of cardiovascular diseases among elderly subjects. There is a need to improve these modifiable health behaviors through targeted educational and rehabilitation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Anemia is a major public health problem amongst elderly population in India. Anemia in old age further worsens the age-related decline in functional ability, mobility, fatigue, bone density, and skeletal muscle mass. There is lack of evidence on the prevalence and risk factors of anemia among elderly population. Hence, this study was undertaken. Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted during the year 2015–2016 in District Nainital, Uttarakhand state, India. A total of 958 subjects were selected from 30 clusters (villages) identified using population proportional to size methodology. Information on sociodemographic profile, nutritional status, body mass index, and dietary intake was obtained. Blood sample was collected from each subject on the filter paper for estimation of hemoglobin (Hb) level using cyanmethemoglobin method. Results: We found that 92.1% of the elderly subjects were anemic. Moderate and severe anemia was found to be significantly higher among female subjects, unemployed, illiterates, subjects using smoke-producing fuel, subjects belonging to lower socioeconomic status, malnourished and underweight subjects, subjects with self-reported hyperacidity, and subjects who had not utilized health facility and had lower iron and vitamin C intake when compared with subjects with mild anemia and normal hemoglobin levels. Conclusion: High prevalence of anemia exists amongst elderly subjects living at high-altitude region of rural Uttarakhand State, India. There is a need to educate the elderly population about the importance of adequate intake of foods rich in iron and vitamin C to reduce the prevalence of anemia among them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poor dental health status has been suggested to negatively impact the food selection, ultimately leading to malnutrition. Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the association of dental health and nutritional status among elderly subjects in India. Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted during 2015–2016 in district Nainital, Uttarakhand state, India. A total of 1003 elderly population were enrolled from 30 clusters (villages) identified using population proportionate to size sampling methodology. Information on sociodemographic profile and anthropometric measurements was collected. Body mass index (BMI) and Mini Nutritional Assessment scale (MNA) were calculated for assessment of nutritional status. A trained professional assessed the dental health status through physical examination. Dietary intake data was collected using 24-h dietary recall methodology. Results: We found that the prevalence of complete edentulism was 11%. Use of dentures was reported among only 9.6% subjects who were completely edentulous. Prevalence of underweight as defined by BMI and malnutrition as defined by MNA was higher among subjects with complete loss of teeth complete loss of teeth and chewing problems chewing problems and who did not wear dentures when compared with others. Subjects who wore dentures had significantly lower prevalence of malnutrition when compared with subjects who did not wear dentures. Conclusion: Dental health status was significantly associated with poor nutritional status among elderly subjects in India. There is a need for providing restorative dental healthcare services to elderly population to improve their nutritional status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the prevalence and risk factors of underweight, overweight and obesity among a geriatric population living in a high-altitude region of India.Design: Community-based cross-sectional study. Data were collected on sociodemographic profile and anthropometric parameters. Weight and height measurements were utilized for calculation of BMI. Nutrient intake data were collected using 24 h dietary recall.Setting: High-altitude region of Nainital District, Uttarakhand State, North India.Subjects: Community-dwelling geriatric subjects (n 981) aged 60 years or above.Results: We found that 26·6 % of the elderly subjects were underweight (BMI<18·5 kg/m2). Overweight (BMI 25·0-29·9 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI≥30·0 kg/m2) was seen among 18·0 % and 4·6 %, respectively. After controlling for potential cofounders, risk factors such as low level of education and income, chewing problems and lower number of daily meals were found to be associated with underweight. On the other hand, risk factors for overweight/obesity were lower age, high income and unskilled work.Conclusions: There is a need to develop and implement intervention strategies to prevent underweight, overweight and obesity among the geriatric population of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dyslipidemia is a major contributing determinant in the development of ischemic heart diseases, stroke, and other vascular diseases. It increases the risk of mortality amongst the geriatric population. Aims & Objectives: To assess the prevalence of dyslipidemia in geriatric rural population residing in a hilly district of Uttarakhand state, India. Material & Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted during 2015 - 2016 in District Nainital, Uttarakhand. A list of all villages with their population in the district was developed. From this list, thirty villages were identified using population proportionate to size sampling method. From each village 30 geriatric subjects were selected. A total of 1003 geriatric subjects aged 60 years and above were included in the study. The data was collected on socio demographic profile and lipid profile from all the enrolled subjects. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was assessed using National Cholesterol Education Programme (NCEP) criteria. Result: The overall prevalence of dyslipidemia was 50.6%. A total of 26.3% participants had hypercholesterolemia, 34.2% had hypertriglyceridemia and 23.5% had high LDL levels. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was higher in women compared to men. Conclusion: High prevalence of dyslipidemia was found amongst geriatric rural population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaemia is a serious public health challenge in India with more than 50% prevalence across vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, infants, young children and adolescents. It has adverse effects on health, physical and mental productivity affecting quality of life. Guideline is any document containing recommendations about health interventions, whether these are clinical, public health or policy recommendations. The National Anemia Prevention and control guidelines have been developed taking cognizance of the current scientific evidence. The National Iron+ Initiative guidelines have been developed by the Adolescent Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India. Prevention and control of anaemia is one of the key strategies of the Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Programmes for reducing maternal, neonatal and childhood mortality and improving maternal, adolescent and childhood health status. It is estimated that anaemia causes 20 per cent of maternal deaths in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaemia is a severe public health problem amongst all vulnerable age groups in India. The National Nutritional Anaemia Prophylaxis Programme initiated in 1970, was revised and expanded to include beneficiaries from all age groups namely children aged 6-59 months, 5-10 yr, adolescents aged 10-19 yr, pregnant and lactating women and women in reproductive age group under the National Iron Plus Initiative (NIPI) programme in 2011. The dose of iron, frequency and duration of iron supplementation and roles and responsibilities of the functionaries were described. At present, the coverage of beneficiaries with iron and folic acid has been poor at the national level. The prevalence of anaemia has continued to remain high during the last 60 years, and there has been no significant change in the scenario due to various reasons. The constraints in implementation and measures to improve the NIPI programme are discussed in the current article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anemia is a major public health problem in India with prevalence of more than 50% amongst children and adolescents. The decline in the burden of anemia has been insignificant over the past 5 decades. The present review assesses the National Guidelines for Prevention and Control of Anemia in India, the current status of the program implementation and possible reasons for the continued high prevalence of anemia in the country.

There has been an increase in the consumption of junk food (JF) among school-aged children (SAC) possibly leading to obesity and diet-related diseases among them. We do not have evidence on consumption of JF in rural areas; hence, we conducted a study to assess the consumption of JF by SAC in rural, Himachal Pradesh. A total of 425 children in the age group of 12-18 years studying in 30 government schools (clusters) were included. The clusters were selected using population proportionate to size sampling methodology. We found high prevalence (36%) of consumption of JF among SAC during the last 24 h. Efforts should be taken to reduce the consumption of JF by promotion of healthy dietary habits and educating children about the ill effects of JF., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Vitamin A supplementation (VAS) is presently being undertaken in India among under 5 (U5) children for two possible benefits (i) to prevent nutritional blindness due to Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and (ii) to reduce U5 mortality. The existing scientific evidence suggests that nutritional blindness due to VAD has been virtually eliminated and also the difference between U5 mortality rate and infant mortality rate is very low for VAS to have any meaningful impact. On the contrary, scientific evidence indicates that there could be side effects of the administration of mega dose of Vitamin A (MDVA). These side effects of MDVA have not been systematically investigated. The universal VAS should be discontinued immediately as there are no likely benefits to U5 children.