Background: Despite significant growth and change in India over the past two decades, some public health indicators have failed to keep pace. One such indicator is food insecurity. India is home to the largest number of people experiencing hunger and food insecurity. Food security is described as “a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. While there has been considerable research investigating the role of crop yields, policy interventions, and food production in alleviating food insecurity in India, there is insufficient research investigating the social and cultural influences of food insecurity, including the role of women. The primary aim of this research is to investigate the experience of food insecurity among women in India. The objectives of this research are (1) to determine the role of women in food production and its contribution to household food security; (2) to examine the gender roles within households and the decision-making processes that influence food security, and (3) to investigate household nutritional status and food insecurity experience. Methods: Participants will include women who live in a village in Punjab, India. Interviews with 100 households, drawn from a convenience sample will be conducted. Interviews will be conducted in Punjabi with simultaneous English translation, and will include: food related experiences, anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist, and hip) and dietary assessment (24-h diet recall, two non-consecutive days), dwelling facilities, agriculture related information, including household agriculture activities undertaken, food security status (via the United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Scale Measurement), and demographic information. Discussion: This study aims to investigate a range of determinants of food insecurity among a rural population. It will allow for the identification of some of the components of household food insecurity among women in India and will go part of the way to understanding how and why India continues to experience food and nutritional insecurity despite growth and progress in a range of other indicators.
Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess contrast sensitivity and macular function test in prediabetes. Methods Participants aged 25–45 years with or without diabetes were enrolled and classified as normal, prediabetic, and diabetic based on their HbA 1C values. They underwent a comprehensive eye examination, and those with diabetic retinopathy, cataract, glaucoma, and high myopia were excluded. Participants with best-corrected visual acuity of 0 logMAR were included. Contrast-sensitivity function (CSF) was measured using a Pelli–Robson chart, and photo stress–recovery time (PSRT) assessed using direct ophthalmoscopy for the 70 eligible participants. Mean values were compared among the three groups. Design This was a cross-sectional observational study. Results In the 70 participants, mean CSF was 1.71±0.10, 1.64±0.11, and 1.61±0.08 log units in the normal, prediabetic, and diabetic groups, respectively ( p <0.001). Similarly, PSRT was found to be 35.80 seconds, 41.63 seconds, and 47.77 seconds in the normal, prediabetic, and diabetic groups, respectively ( p <0.001). Conclusion The data suggested that reduced CSF and delayed PSRT seen in subjects with prediabetes could give valuable clinical insight into early changes before diabetes and microvascular damage is incurred. A future study with a larger sample could help substantiate the results.
Food insecurity is an important contributor to health and a factor in both underweight and malnutrition, and overweight and obesity. Countries where both undernutrition and overweight and obesity coexist are said to be experiencing a double burden of malnutrition. India is one example of a country experiencing this double burden. Women have been found to experience the negative impacts of food insecurity and obesity, however, the reasons that women experience the impact of malnutrition more so than men are complex and are under-researched. This current research employed a mixed methods approach to begin to fill this gap by exploring the dietary intake, anthropometric characteristics, and food security status of rural Indian women. In total, 78 household were surveyed. The average waist measurement, waist to hip ratio, and BMI were all above WHO recommendations, with two thirds of participants categorized as obese. Contributing to these findings was a very limited diet, high in energy, and low in protein and iron. The findings of this research suggest that the rural Indian women in this study have a lack of diet diversity and may be at risk of a range of non-communicable diseases.
Background: Diabetes mellitus is a well know public health issue. Prediabetes is a precursor to diabetes mellitus and early detection of this state of impaired fasting glucose, with intervention can be reversed to a state of normal glucose regulation. Healthy adults often visit eye hospitals for their eye care needs and aim of this study is to assess opportunistic screening for prediabetes in ophthalmic OPD.Method: Subjects from the age group of 25-45 years visiting an eye hospital or accompanying family members were invited to participate in the study. Following informed consent, height, weight, was measured using standard tests and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Body Fat Mass (BFM) was assessed using an Omron Body Fat device. HbA1c was performed and prevalence of prediabetes was calculated.Results and Conclusions: 118 subjects enrolled in the study, 43 were known diabetics and 75 were normal adults between the age of 25-45 years. Using HbA1c test, 41/75 were diagnosed to have prediabetes, which is almost 54.66% of the entire normal study population.Screening for prediabetes in ophthalmic outpatient areas could be repeated with a larger sample to substantiate the opportunity to screen for prediabetes.
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