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BACKGROUND: In India, where agriculture is the prime occupation among the rural population, farmers are extensively using pesticides in crop production without taking adequate precautions. OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to examine pesticide usage patterns, usage of personal protective equipment (PPE), knowledge on pesticide toxicity, and attitude towards occupational safety among farmers diagnosed with leukaemia (n = 60), lymphoma (n = 33), and breast cancer (n = 30) visiting a tertiary cancer care hospital in Hyderabad, India. METHODS: Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a pre-tested questionnaire and the data collected were analysed with statistical software SPSS 23. RESULTS: The survey revealed that the participants had an average of 19.6 years of farming experience and women were predominantly involved in the mixing of pesticides and other agricultural work apart from spraying. All of them were not using any PPE and the majority of them did not have any knowledge on the route of exposure, toxicity symbols, and safe handling of pesticides. Statistical analysis showed no significant association between educational status and knowledge, attitude and practices (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Even though the majority of the farmers were educated, their lack of adequate knowledge on pesticides had enabled them to adopt risky behaviours in handling and storage of pesticides. There is a need for continuous training programs for farmers to promote awareness and minimize the hazards of occupational exposure.

To develop a context-specific methodology to assess the 5 A's of food environment: availability, accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and accommodation.Cross-sectional mixed-methods study. Availability of foods was assessed by on-site observation and interviewing vendors. To assess accessibility, buffer zones around food stores were created using geographic information systems. Affordability was controlled by selecting participants from the middle-income group. Accommodation and acceptability were assessed by interviewing vendors and caregivers.Villages of Ghatkesar subdistrict (n = 4), Telangana, South India.Caregivers of children aged 6-10 years (n = 160) and food vendors (n = 68).The quality of the 5 A's was graded on the basis of concurrence between actual and perceived measures.The actual and perceived 5 A's for semiperishable foods matched, and hence the food environment was graded as good across the villages. However, for perishable foods, the food environment was graded as poor with respect to accommodation and acceptability in all villages; and with respect to availability and affordability in at least 2 villages as the actual and perceived measures did not match.This study demonstrated the use of context-specific methods to assess the 5 key dimensions of the food environment, which can be attempted in other contexts with suitable modifications.

A targeted food safety training program for street food handlers is very essential to provide safe food for consumers. An in-depth assessment of knowledge and specific food safety practices of vendors is a prerequisite for incorporating a novel approach in training programs. The present study is a cross-sectional study conducted on 400 street food vendors (Panipuri-150, Bhelpuri-150, Fruit juice vendors-50, Chinese fast food-50) in south Indian city-Hyderabad, by stratified random sampling technique from 5 zones. A validated pre-tested questionnaire was administered by interview mode, and practices were recorded through the observational checklist. Scores have been allotted for a knowledge-based questionnaire with 18 items of which 5 are exclusive on knowledge and 13 questions on knowledge and subsequent practices recorded via observation checklist with different weights. Among all the street vendors, panipuri vendors (20.5±1.94) secured high scores and bhelpuri vendors (14.04±1.20) secured the least scores for knowledge whereas practice scores were relatively the same for all types of vendors. The average percentage for knowledge (17.40±3.56) scores was 68.1% and for practices (8.28±2.54) 38% for all the vendors. Very few vendors know the importance of practices like separating raw from cooked foods (22%), cooking food thoroughly (21.7%), and safe storage of cooked food (8.5%). Only about 13.7% of vendors thought that it is important to use soap for washing hands and only 4 % of the vendors practiced. The present study helps in identifying knowledge and knowledge-practice gaps in street food vendors for developing targeted food safety training programs.

BACKGROUND: The work style of employees engaged in the Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sectors in India is dominantly sedentary exposing them to detrimental obesogenic environments with unhealthy diets, increasing the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Workplace health interventions have been reported to have the potential of reducing NCDs and related risk factors among the employees and thus reduce cost of absenteeism and improve productivity. OBJECTIVE: This formative research study aims to explore the opportunities and barriers of the development and implementation of a Workplace Health Programme (WHP). METHODS: In this study, a mixed method including qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with employees and senior managers in employers of IT/BPO companies of different sizes in Hyderabad, India. The food and physical activity environment in the workplaces were explored using a checklist and ground truthing approach. A knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) questionnaire was developed to assess health, nutrition and physical activity of the employees. RESULTS: Through this formative research, the required areas for nutrition, physical activity and health education were identified. The scope of utilising existing facilities for physical activity and modifying the food environment was explored. We noted optimistic bias among the junior employees who did not consider themselves at risk of developing NCDs. CONCLUSIONS: The identified opportunities and barriers will help in developing strategic WHPs suitable to individual workplaces. The qualitative methods, ground truthing approach, checklist and KAP tools used here can assess the company environment and employee health and nutrition status.

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.

The uncontrolled spread of (mis)information, news and propaganda related to COVID 19 created an ‘infodemic’ leading to panic and unscientific practices among the mass. With the largest number of internet users in the world, India has witnessed a steep rise in the number of people seeking information on social media related to COVID-19, which reached a staggering 22.3 million by March, 2020. This study aimed to evaluate the trend of COVID-19 associated food and nutrition news search by Indian internet users between 27th January 2020 to 30th June 2021 (time period between the first detected COVID-19 case and the end of the second wave in India) and its impact on their perceptions and practices. The association between the change in Relative Search Volume (RSV) on Google Trends (GT) of 34 popularly searched keywords classified by the researchers under 5 different categories—“Immunity”, “Eating behavior”, “Food safety”, “Food scares and concerns” and “Covid scare” showed a steep rise in search for immunity boosters, vitamin supplement brands “ayush kadha (ayurvedic decoction) during the first wave (April- August 2020). With a brief period of decline in the search trend, it again hiked correspondingly with the growing number of positive cases during the second wave in India. An online survey conducted on adult Indian internet users (n = 572) reported high (71.9%) consumption of Vitamin C rich fruits as well as Vitamin C (68.2%) and Zinc (61.4%) supplements to boost immunity. Traditional Indian spices like ginger and garlic were used by 62.9% and 50.9% respondents respectively. Most respondents reported to rely on social media for gathering COVID-19 associated tips for boosting immunity, however those with history of COVID-19 infection reported to rely more on doctors and health professionals for information. This study highlights the need of media and health literacy to advocate for the use of health information cautiously.

The uprise of digital media has bypassed the language and cultural barriers of communicating about food with peers. Sharing exaggeratively glamourized food visuals with fancy hashtags and folksonomy, generally termed as Foodporn, is "trendy". Exposure to Foodporn affects food choices, directly or indirectly, through psychological, physiological and psychosocial means. Though unhealthy connotation is often attributed to foodporn, this perspective article implores that the plausible potential to alluring food pictures to prompt healthy food choices, be explored. Can foodporn be effectively used for e-priming (electronically priming) healthy food choices by glamourizing and idealizing healthy foods?

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.

India has a prolonged history of dealing with widespread epidemics and pandemics. It has enjoyed a commendable performance in controlling epidemics like polio, smallpox, and cholera, through sustained and effective health communication campaigns. Most of the campaigns and epidemic management had to be carried out in view of its diverse populations and contextualise tailor-made health messages. As a result, the epidemic management stretched over prolonged periods until the disease was contained. COVID-19 threw up a different challenge for pandemic management and called for re-strategised health communication, highlighting the interplay of the social determinants of health and other extraneous factors, which are completely outside the realm of health. Multiple discourses in the political, economic, psychosocial domains have made the Indian experience an interesting case study. This chapter aims to present some facets of public health communication during the pandemic and attempts to elucidate the interlinkages of health communication with other factors that influence social determinants of health, which during a pandemic necessitated strategic shifts in economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies, and political systems.

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.

ObjectiveTo develop and validate a context-specific comprehensive knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) questionnaire for literate mothers on factors affecting micronutrient status of 6–10-year-old children.DesignSequential exploratory mixed-methods study using focus group discussions (FGD) and psychometric validation.SettingSeven randomly selected villages with >500 households with three to five family members each, in Ghatkesar sub-district, Medchal district, Telangana state, India.ParticipantsLiterate mothers from middle-income households with at least one child (6–10 years) for FGD (n44), for testing the internal consistency (n80) and for test–retest reliability (n30).ResultsThe themes for FGD were diet diversity, micronutrients, cooking and eating practices, national programmes and sunlight exposure. Knowledge among caregivers about sources of micronutrients, deficiency symptoms, cooking/eating practices was low, while attitude towards diet diversity and sunlight was good. Non-availability of fruits and vegetables was a barrier to diet diversity. About 72 % of the questions from the item pool were based on FGD. After content validity, 125 items were selected for the questionnaire which, upon psychometric validation, was reduced to an eighty-eight-item questionnaire with difficulty index of 0·10–0·91, discrimination index of 0·09–0·68, Cronbach’sαof 0·78 (reliability of knowledge and attitude) and 0·50 (practice). A Bland–Altman plot showed good agreement between test and retest scores.ConclusionsThe questionnaire developed and validated using a sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach can be used for assessing KAP on micronutrients and factors affecting consumption of diverse diets in rural Indian households.

Adolescence is a transitional phase of development with the risk of adopting unhealthy behaviours, which is carried on to adulthood. Adolescent athletes tend to resort to unhealthy eating habits resulting in eating disorders and other clinical outcomes. Hence, it forms a crucial age to understand modifiable food habits and provide appropriate counselling. In India, coaches closely monitor the adolescent athletes, even concerning their eating habits due to the lack of multi-disciplinary support staff. Thus, our study aimed to understand the perceptions of coaches towards food, appetite and nutrition of adolescent athletes using In-depth interviews (IDI). Of all 14 coaches at the state-sponsored residential sports centre, 10 consented. The IDI were conducted in a standardized manner and were recorded and transcribed. They were coded manually, using the open and axial coding in the grounded theory approach to determine themes. They considered nutrition as key to performance and consumption of higher animal protein as important. Majority of them considered sprouts, dry fruits, fruits and vegetables as healthy foods, though were unable to define the quantities nor nutrients therein. Coaches considered protein as “important”, while fat as “unhealthy”. They also observed that athletes were avoiding fruits and vegetables, while consuming more rice. Meal timing, fluid and supplement intake were considered essential for international performance, albeit unaware of the specific requirements. Hygiene practices and peer isolation were considered to affect food intake. This lacunae in the nutrition knowledge and the modifiable nutrition practices explored can be targeted by developing a nutrition education and assessment tool for coaches and junior athletes. Further, a long-term engagement of a nutritionist with every sports academy in India is recommended., Nutrition; Eating habits; Qualitative research; Adolescent athletes; Education; Public health; Physical activity; Musculoskeletal system; Physiology; Women's health; Psychology

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.

With co-existence of under-nutrition and obesity among its people, malnutrition afflicts India like a double-edged sword. The search for solutions has often pointed at ‘Nutrition Communication’ as a tool in alleviating malnutrition. This study, through three case studies in India, attempts to critically examine how various organizations engaged in nutrition communication perceive, develop and implement communicative processes. These case studies typically combined data collection methods like information gathering and interviews. We realize nutrition communication programmes are top-down, expert-driven and are often denied planning, evaluation or budgets. We argue that factors such as the organization’s knowledge of the nutrition problem(s), perceptions of the key communicators, their motivation levels and personal biases also affect the design and implementation of nutrition communication programmes.

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

Energy drinks are becoming increasingly popular in India. There is a need to understand the extent of consumption and perceptions among consumers. There are no studies in India in this direction. This study aimed to assess the perceptions and practices related to consumption of energy drinks among consumers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among students (n=132) and employed persons (n=48) of 13–40 yrs age, who were purposively selected using snowballing technique. Only those who have ever consumed energy drinks were included as subjects. Those consuming at least twice a month were categorized as frequent consumers. A pretested and pre-coded questionnaire with open-ended (5) and closed-ended questions (26) was administered in interview mode. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used for analysis. Frequent consumers were more among students (47%) than in working group (14.6%). Significantly (p

The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has reached a remarkable milestone of completing 100 years of exemplary service to the nation. The long journey that started in a humble one-room laboratory at Coonoor (now in Tamil Nadu) in 1918 to a colossus of the nutrition research in the country today is dotted with several interesting vignettes. The NIN has always been at the forefront of need-based, pragmatic research. Its large-scale community-based interventions have been of great practical value in the nation's fight against malnutrition. The evolution of nutrition as a modern science almost coincides with the growth of the Institute. Being the oldest in the fraternity of institutes under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the NIN has grown from strength to strength due to the sheer relevance of its contributions in furthering nutrition science and promoting public health in the country. This article provides a historical overview of the evolution and contributions of ICMR-NIN in the areas of nutrition, food safety, public health and policy.

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.

A quiz program is a test of knowledge especially between individuals or teams, as a form of entertainment. The quiz format provides motivation not only for participants, but also for the audience, because it provides 4 kinds of gratification and appeals: (1) Self-rating appeal: On a primary level, it serves as a tool of selfassessment of intellectual status or subject knowledge in relation to the others; (2) Social interaction: Questions can encourage social interaction because they can be discussed within the team and at audience level; (3) Excitement appeal: The appeal of winning a prize or being rated as superior among peers; and (4) Educational appeal: Quizzes serve as educational tools by encouraging thinking and learning. Applying collaborative and cooperative learning theories, group quizzes serve as effective means of imparting education. Quizzes engage participants in collaborative learning by helping them harness joint intellectual effort and group processing. They also promote positive interdependence andmotivate participants for cooperative learning. In addition, they improve recall of information, generate discussion, and prompt those with no knowledge (even among audience) to learn.

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.

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.