A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted during 2012 in private and public-sector schools of Karachi to determine the prevalence and factors influencing overweight and obesity among school children (aged 11-15 years). Sociodemographic characteristics and dietary habits were explored. The CDC Growth Chart was used to record height and weight. Of a total of 887 children, being overweight and frankly obese was found in 169 (19.1%) and 96 (10.8%), respectively. Of these, 176 (66.4%) were from private schools, and significant associations were found in 202 (76.2%) who were spending > 2 h/day watching television and 139 (52.5%) sleeping > 8 h/day.

Introduction: Toothbrushes play an essential role in oral hygiene and is commonlypracticed on daily basis to clean the oral cavity. It can serve as a reservoir for microorganismsin healthy and infected person. Objectives: To isolate the bacterial contaminants on usedtoothbrushes and to compare the type of bacterial growth in capped and uncapped toothbrushesamong general population of Karachi. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Study wasconducted among general population of Karachi. Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry,Hamdard University, Karachi. Period: February to September 2014. Methodology: Usingconvenient sampling technique, data was collected from subjects of different socioeconomicstatus. Toothbrushes for culture was collected under standard precautions to observe asepticconditions. Descriptive analysis was done for all independent variables using SPSS version20. The frequency of various bacterial contaminants on used toothbrushes were determinedand chi square test was used to observe the association of bacterial growth among cappedand uncapped toothbrushes. P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results:Out of the total 106, 51 (48.1%) were female and 55 (51.9%) male participants. Substantialnumber of toothbrushes 91 (85.8%) were found to have bacterial contamination. Majority ofthe participants (82.1%) were between 19 . 59 years of age, intermediate or above (61.3%),monthly income rupees . 20000 (46%), using same brush >3 months (50.0%), brushing teethtwice a day (62.3%) and keeping toothbrushes uncapped were (66.0%). Statistically significant(P<0.05) difference was found between capped and uncapped toothbrushes and presenceof Klebsiella and Pseudomonas. Conclusion: The study concluded that used toothbrushesare significantly contaminated with bacteria which may cause serious health problems amongindividuals and families.