Background: Vitamin A deficiency is major concern especially for the children living in developing countries. According to UNICEF around one third of the children are not receiving the supplementation of Vitamin A they need. Aim: The present study focuses on Vitamin A deficiency among the children aged 12-59 months in India by analysing the data from the latest nutritional survey. Methods: The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS), conducted during 2016-18, dataset for 0-5 years age has been used in the study. The study has employed bi-variate analysis to assess the prevalence of Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) based on the CRP (C-reactive protein) values (CRP ≤5 mg/L), by the different socioeconomic and demographic characteristics along with dietary diversity, stunting, anaemia and breastfeeding related variables. Log-binomial regression model has been used for the multivariable analysis and based on that predicted probabilities were computed. Results: The overall prevalence of VAD in India is 17.54%. Children who are exposed to longer duration of breastfeeding have lower prevalence of VAD. Children in poorer economic sections are more vitamin A deficient compared to children in richer economic sections. The prevalence of VAD among children having minimum diet diversity is 18.63%. Conclusion:The study suggests in focusing on the targeted groups of children who are at more risk in developing VAD and planning interventions for specific groups. The nutrition programs require a multisectoral approach for addressing the needs of macronutrient and micronutrient deficiencies simultaneously to enhance the current situation of nutrition among children in India.

Background: With the turn of the century, CVDs have become the leading cause of mortality in India. Despite the wide heterogeneous prevalence of risk factors across different regions, CVD is the major cause of death in all parts of India. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the prevalence of CVDs and its associated risk factors among older adults in India. Methods: The current study used data from the LASI, Wave 1, the world's largest and India's first longitudinal aging study. The total sample for the analysis was 65562 (45 and above individuals). The self-reported prevalence of CVDs was calculated by considering any one of the self-reported diagnosed conditions of hypertension, stroke, and chronic heart diseases. Binary Logistic regression was carried out between CVD and its associated risk factors like age, sex, place of residence, physical activity, family history of CVD, Diabetes/blood sugar, high cholesterol. P < 0.05 from two-sided statistical tests was regarded statistically significant. Results: The study indicated that the overall self-reported prevalence of diagnosed CVDs was 29.4% for older adults age 45 and above in India. Age was associated with increased risk of CVD Female older adults were more likely to have CVDs than male.The place of residence also had a stronger association with CVDs.In addition, high cholesterol, diabetes and physical inactivity were key risk factors for CVDs.The study also indicated that Family history was associated with a greater perceived risk for CVDs. The greater prevalence of CVDs risk factors among older adults manifested alarming public health concerns and a future health demand. It creates a threat if health promotion and awareness programs are not well designed.

Aims: The dust of tobacco enters the respiratory system of beedi workers through inhalation during beedi-making and causes respiratory impairments. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the pulmonary functional status of male beedi workers and to detect the pulmonary function impairments among these workers. Materials and Methods: A standard questionnaire was followed to note the symptoms like cough, breathlessness, morning cough and chest tightness. The tendu leaves contain fungal spores in different phases of its processing, particularly when they were kept in bundles in moist condition before wrapping the beedi. In the present study, pulmonary function status assessment was done by spirometric method using Spirovit-SP-10 and Wright's peak flow meter. Out of the total subjects studied (n=107), 56 were control subjects and 51 were workers exposed to beedi. Statistical Analysis: Paired t-test was done to determine the significant difference between beedi workers and control subjects. Result: A few workers reported symptoms of cough, breathlessness, morning cough and chest tightness. The respiratory symptoms were found higher in exposed beedi workers compared to control subjects. A trend of decrement of lung volumes with the increment of age and duration of work exposure was observed. The pulmonary function abnormalities found among the male beedi workers were obstructive, restrictive and 'combined restrictive and obstructive' type. Conclusion:The respirtory impairments among the beedi workers might be due to their exposure to the work environment.

Background In developing nations like India, fertility and mortality have decreased, and diseases related to lifestyle have become more common. Females in India are more prone to being overweight and obese than their male counterparts, more specifically in affluent families than the poor ones. Understanding the overweight and obesity trend may help develop feasible public health interventions to reduce the burden of obesity and associated adverse health outcomes. Methods The study utilizes the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015–16. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate analysis was used to check the significant relationship between overweight and obesity, and other background characteristics. Income-related inequality in overweight and obesity among women was quantified by the concentration index and the concentration curve. Further, Wagstaff decomposition analysis was done to decompose the concentration index, into the contributions of each factor to the income-related inequalities. Results Overweight & obesity among women had a significant positive association with their age and educational level. The odds of overweight and obesity were 57% more likely among women who ever had any caesarean births than those who did not [AOR: 1.57; CI: 1.53–1.62]. The likelihood of overweight and obesity was 4.31 times more likely among women who belonged to richest [AOR: 5.84; CI: 5.61–6.08] wealth quintile, than those who belonged to poor wealth quintile. Women who ever terminated the pregnancy had 20% higher risk of overweight and obesity than those who did not [AOR: 1.20; CI: 1.17–1.22]. The concentration of overweight and obesity among women was mostly in rich households of all the Indian states and union territories. Among the geographical regions of India, the highest inequality was witnessed in Eastern India (0.41), followed by Central India (0.36). Conclusion The study results also reveal a huge proportion of women belonging to the BMI categories of non-normal, which is a concern and can increase the risks of developing non-communicable diseases. Hence, the study concludes and recommends an urgent need of interventions catering to urban women belonging to higher socio-economic status which can reduce the risks of health consequences due to overweight and obesity. Development nutrition-specific as well as sensitive interventions can be done for mobilization of local resources that addresses the multiple issues under which a woman is overweight or obese.