Articles

Nutritional Status and Dietary Profile of College Students – A Cross Sectional Study from South India

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Background: Undernutrition is most critical health challenges facing society today, not just in terms of health, but also health care expense. Several studies have revealed that college students often have bad eating habits. Students typically consume less fruits and vegetables per day and report a high intake of high-fat, high-calorie items.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to assess nutritional status and dietary habits of students studying in university.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a sample of post graduate students with the sample size of 57. A well-structured interview schedule was used for data collection regarding socio demographic data, nutritional status and dietary profile. Results and Discussion: Outcome of the results indicated that majority of them were belonged to the age category of 21-25 years, stayed in hostel, had one sibling and were middle class families. Around 50.6 % of college students were within the healthy Body Mass Index range. Most students showed ‘satisfactory’ dietary habits. Almost more than half of the students reported consuming good amounts of fruits, vegetables, milk and nuts daily. Only 8.8 % of students were eating non-vegetarian daily.

Conclusion: Around 50% of college students, particularly females, were within the range of good nutritional status. Students’ dietary habits were satisfactory. However, students’ knowledge of good diet habits, and nutritional knowledge needs to be improvement. This study offers new insight for formulating policies and intervention programs among college students in the future.

A Study to Assess the Association between Malnutrition and Anemia in Underfive Children by Using two Binary Variables of Haemoglobin Crest and Low Height for Age and Low Degree of Malnutrition at Nerkundram

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Background: Anemia, which is characterized by low level of hemoglobin in the blood, is one of the major public health hazards affecting people in both developed and developing countries. Anemia may occur at all stages of life, however, young children and women in the childbearing age are the most vulnerable. When anemia occurs in children, it could affect their cognitive performance and physical growth  In women, anemia could adversely affect their capacity to work and may lead to poor pregnancy outcomes.

Methodology: Data collection was done in selected community area of Nerkundram, for a period of 1 week. The investigator obtained written permission from the Principal, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Chennai and in charge of selected community area, Nerkundram. An oral consent was obtained from the samples prior to the study. The purpose of the study was explained to the subjects. The samples who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected. The purposive sampling technique was used to select 200 samples for the study. Everyday 25 samples were selected and collected data from them. Demographic data was collected by administering the structured tool and the biochemical variable hemoglobin was assessed clinically. The data collected were then coded and entered in Excel for further data analysis and interpretation.

Results: 200 in total Participants finished this research. After 1 weeks, The present study assessed the association between malnutrition and anemia in underfive children by using two binary variables of haemoglobin crest and low height for age and low degree of malnutrition. The study concluded that most of the underfive children had moderate to mild anemia and the parents of underfive had to be educated on malnutrition and the steps to prevent anemia.

Prevention of Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Pre-School Children

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The article is devoted to the role of iron, vitamins and minerals in the development of iron deficiency anaemia in children of early and pre-school age. Iron deficiency (ID) is one of the most common nutritional-dependent states in the world, which, according to WHO [1], affects more than 1.5 billion people. Iron deficiency is in the form of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) [1, 2] in about half of the cases (over 700 million of the world’s population). ID is mostly due to nutritional reasons, but age and socio-economic factors are also important.