Objective Vitamin B12 is not synthesized in the body and its only dietary sources are non-vegetarian. The breast milk of mothers in resource poor countries who are on predominantly vegetarian diets is deficient in vitamin B12. Hence exclusive breast feeding (EBF) may result in B12 deficiency in the infant, which can affect the neurodevelopmental outcome. Our aim was to study the serum vitamin B12 levels among EBF infants and identify the risk factors for B12 deficiency. Method This cross-sectional study was done among EBF, term, otherwise healthy infants, 1–6 month of age in the well-baby clinic .The sociodemographic data of mother and the infants’ anthropometric measurements were noted and blood samples were sent for complete blood count and serum vitamin B12 levels. The data were analysed using SPSS software version 16. Results We enrolled 149 EBF infants, aged 1–6 months and the mean age was 3.1 (±1.03) months. The mean serum vitamin B12 level was 199.91 (±112.523) pg/ml. Low serum vitamin B12 levels (<200 pg/ml) was seen in 95 (63.7%) infants. On multivariate analysis, there were no other significant risk factors for B12 deficiency in the infants. Conclusion The prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency among EBF infants is 63.7%. Because of its importance in neurological development during infancy, there is an urgent need to address this issue while promoting exclusive breast feeding.
Background: Reducing the maternal and neonatal mortality rate are the predominant goals of achieving sustainable development for which it is important to ensure adequate health workforce, especially pediatric professionals at all levels of health care. Recent trends reveal a significant decline in the number of doctors opting for pediatrics specialization. Objective: This study was carried out to explore the career preferences of the undergraduate medical students and factors influencing career choice. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out among 362 undergraduate medical students studying in prefinal and final year during a period of three months. A self administered questionnaire was used to obtain information regarding the career preferences and factors influencing the decision making. Attitudes regarding career choice was assessed using Likert scale and later recoded into binomial variables. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS software. Results: Majority of the participants were females (61.8%). The individual choice of specialty revealed that 12.2% of the males and 18.5% of the females wanted to take up pediatrics as their first career choice while 5.5% of the males and 7.7% of the females had pediatrics as their second choice. Overall, more females preferred pediatrics as a career choice compared to the males. The observed difference was statistically significant (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Adequate motivation, driven with passion for patient care can be inculcated at the young age and will go a long way in not only addressing the pediatric needs of the society, but also improve health indicators and sustainable development of the country.
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