Background: Adolescence in girls is a special period which signifies the transition from girlhood to womanhood. Lack of good hygienic practices has increased the vulnerability to reproductive tract infections. Due to societal attitude, girls also associate a variety of negative physical and psychological changes on their body with menstruation. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, practices and attitude related to menstruation. Methods:This cross-sectional study was carried out among 500 school going adolescent girls. A pre-tested questionnaire was administered to the study population after obtaining written consent. Results:In our study 69% of the girls attained menarche at 11 to 13 years; 40 % of the girls knew about menstruation before menarche with mother being the informant in 47.7% of the subjects. Most of the girls felt scared on first menstruation (59%). All the girls in the study practised one restriction or the other. Conclusions:The study has highlighted the needs of the adolescents to have accurate and adequate information about menstruation and its appropriate management. Immense efforts are needed to curb myths about menstruation among the adolescent school going girls.

Background: Sedentary lifestyle is one of the important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases which is the leading cause of death globally. Workplace initiatives like promotion of staircase use are one among many simple measures to overcome the harmful effect of a sedentary workplace. Hence this study was conducted to assess effectiveness of ‘using staircase’ as a lifestyle modification among sedentary workers of a municipal corporation in improving fitness level.Methods: An interventional study was conducted over a period of 8 weeks among workers of a municipal corporation office. A semi structured questionnaire including socio demographic and morbidity details was administered. sitting-rising test (SRT) was administered before and after 8 weeks staircase use intervention to assess fitness levels among study participants.Results: The mean SRT score of 172 study population at baseline was 8.79 and 115 (67%) recorded above it. 3.5-5. Younger age was associated with higher SRT score and those with history of smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia and higher BMI had lower SRT scores than their counterparts. Mean value of SRT significantly improved to 9.015 following intervention.Conclusions: Fitness level assessed using SRT score among office staff showed that people with higher age and higher BMI have low SRT score than their counterparts. This study has shown that staircase usage can be prescribed as effective method to improve fitness level at sedentary workplace.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one of the risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Hence early detection by screening and management of GDM is very essential to reduce the burden of type 2 diabetes. Objectives was to evaluate the strength of association of GDM and type 2 diabetes among women aged 30 to 35 years in Thiruvallur District, to find the association of other risk factors with type 2 diabetes.Methods: A study was conducted among 160 women with 44 cases and 116 controls aged 30-35 years attending NCD clinics in Thiruvallur District between March and September 2016. The cases and controls were matched for age and time period between last delivery and the time of screening as 5 years or more. GDM exposure was ascertained if their venous blood glucose levels during their antenatal and postpartum period exceeded the oral glucose tolerance test criteria recommended by national guidelines.Results: In the study it was found that women with history of GDM are 4.65 times higher at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. There was significant association (p=0.000) between type 2 diabetes and risk factors like family history of diabetes, co-morbidities like hypertension, hypothyroidism.Conclusions: Gestational diabetes is a predictor of type 2 diabetes, as the women are registered in the pregnancy and infant cohort monitoring and evaluation system, it has the potential to identify women at risk of type 2 diabetes and intervene at the earliest.

Background: Studies have shown that fishermen have a higher mortality from cardiovascular disease, cancer and accident. Despite existing knowledge regarding the high morbidity and mortality rates associated with fishing, there has been little research on the effect of working conditions on the health of fishermen, especially in the developing world. To estimate the prevalence of risk factors of chronic disease among the fishing community in Pulicat village and to find the association among various risk factors.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from March 2016 to September 2016, among the residents of Pulicat village, a fishing community to the north of Chennai. The core items in of the WHO steps instrument were used, the questionnaire also included data on demographics and socio-economic variables.Results: Fruit consumption was low among the study population only 15.11% and 12.44% consumed fruits and vegetables daily, 25% of the population were involved in vigorous activity daily, 4.44% of the population was smokers, 18.67% of them consumed alcohol, 31.11% of them were hypertensive, 12.81% were diabetic. BMI calculations showed that 37.33% were above the normal range and 52.44% had waist circumference above the normal range.Conclusions: Health promotion and education initiatives should be conducted in the fishing community to increase the awareness of the risk for developing chronic diseases which may permanently incapacitate them and force them to quit their profession. They should be encouraged to avoid alcohol, smoke less, eat more fruits and vegetables especially at sea, increase physical activity, and monitor regularly their weight, abdominal circumference and blood pressure.

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