Eating disorders (ED) are one of the most common psychiatric problems faced by todays adolescent girls where the attitude towards weight and shape as well as their perception of body shape are disturbed. The aim of the paper is to assess the prevalence and associated factors of disordered eating attitudes among adolescent girls of Arar city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is a cross-sectional survey design in which 314 adolescents females (age: 15-19 years) were selected from four schools of Arar city, KSA. Subjects were asked to fill pre-tested questionnaire about socioeconomic status, eating habits and Eating attitude test 26 (EAT 26), there height and weight were measured and BMI was calculated. Disturbed eating behaviors (EAT-26>20) was found in 25.47% participants. The prevalence of disordered eating was more in overweight and obese than normal weight. Vegetarian girls had higher EAT 26 score than non - vegetarian and significant difference was found in total EAT 26 score and subgroup namely oral control and dieting score (P<0.01) but non-significant difference was found between Saudi and non-Saudi adolescent girls in different BMI ranges. Eating disorders prevalent in adolescent girls and were strongly associated with weight status and eating habits. Future prospective and experimental studies are warranted to advance our understanding of the risk factors to enable better preventive program planning.

Zinc is an essential nutrient for human health; it is involved in the catalytic, structural, and regulatory functions of the human cellular system. Different compositions of zinc, as well as its pharmaceutically acceptable salts, are available on the market. Recent studies have demonstrated the role of zinc in combating COVID-19. It has been determined that zinc prevents the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into cells by lowering the expression of ACE-2 receptors and inhibiting the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2. Zinc also prevents the cytokine storm that takes place after the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the cell, via its anti-inflammatory activity. The authors believe that no study has yet been published that has reviewed the trends, inventions, and patent literature of zinc compositions to treat/prevent COVID-19. Accordingly, this review has been written in order to fill this gap in the literature. The information about the clinical studies and the published patents/patent applications was retrieved from different databases. This review covers patent literature on zinc compositions up to 31 January 2022. Many important patents/patent applications for zinc-based compositions filed by innovative universities and industries were identified. The patent literature revealed zinc compositions in combination with zinc ionophores, antioxidants, antivirals, antibiotics, hydroxychloroquine, heparin, ivermectin, and copper. Most of these studies were supported by clinical trials. The patent literature supports the potential of zinc and its pharmaceutical compositions as possible treatments for COVID-19. The authors believe that countless zinc-based compositions are still unexplored, and there is an immense opportunity to evaluate a considerable number of the zinc-based compositions for use against COVID-19.

It is therefore recommended that the children must be screened regularly for blood pressure to detect the prevalence so that remedial measure may be initiated as early as possible.

Acacia seyal is an important source of gum Arabic. The availability, traditional, medicinal, pharmaceutical, nutritional, and cosmetic applications of gum acacia have pronounced its high economic value and attracted global attention. In addition to summarizing the inventions/patents applications related to gum A. seyal, the present review highlights recent updates regarding its phytoconstituents. Traditional, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and medicinal uses with the possible mechanism of actions have been also reviewed. The patent search revealed the identification of 30 patents/patent applications of A. seyal. The first patent related to A. seyal was published in 1892, which was related to its use in the prophylaxis/treatment of kidney and bladder affections. The use of A. seyal to treat cancer and osteoporosis has also been patented. Some inventions provided compositions and formulations containing A. seyal or its ingredients for pharmaceutical and medical applications. The inventions related to agricultural applications, food industry, cosmetics, quality control of gum Arabic, and isolation of some chemical constituents (L-rhamnose and arabinose) from A. seyal have also been summarized. The identification of only 30 patents/patent applications from 1892 to 15 November 2021 indicates a steadily growing interest and encourages developing more inventions related to A. seyal. The authors recommend exploring these opportunities for the benefit of society.

A cross-sectional study among 701 school children (12-16 years) was conducted in Aligarh to find out the prevalence of hypertension and to correlate school going adolescent's blood pressure with age, sex, height and weight. The weight was taken by a standardized weighing machine while height was measured using a standard stediometer. Blood pressure measurements were taken by a mercury sphygmomanometer. The distribution of blood pressure by anthropometric characteristics were studied. Mean, standard deviation and correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis. The overall prevalence of hypertension was found to be 9.4%. Blood pressure of both gender appear to have positive correlation with anthropometric characteristics. Study recommends that children must be screened regularly for blood pressure so that remedial measure can be initiated as early as possible.

The present study analyzed the relationship between physical activity and blood pressure in 701 school children aged 12-16 years (girls = 338, boys = 363). During the baseline examination, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), height, weight, and 24-hour recall of the working day activity with duration were recorded. Total activity score and type of activity were calculated by weighing the activity level. Mean, standard deviation, and correlation coefficient were calculated by using SPSS 12.0 version. The results revealed that rise in blood pressure was directly proportional to the increase in age. The range of systolic blood pressure was found to be high in low risk blood pressure (LBP) group than in elevated blood pressure (EBP) group showing direct association of activity level and systolic blood pressure. Physical activity score was found to be more in LBP group than in EBP group. Our results support the hypothesis that SBP is independently related to the level of habitual physical activity in children.

Objective: The study aimed at examining the prevalence and correlates of eating disorder among female college students of Northern Broader University, Arar city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods:A cross sectional survey was conducted among female college students. The total sample size was 160 (66.66% of total population of college) and stratified random sampling technique was used to select female students age ranged between 18 and 23 years from faculty of medical and faculty of applied medical science. Subjects were ask to fill pre tested questionnaire about socioeconomic status, age at menarche, body image and Eating attitude test 26 (EAT 26), there height and weight were measured and BMI was calculated.Results: Out of 160 female college students only 120 (75%) returned completely filled questionnaires and they were considered for statistical analysis. It was found that, 32 (26.66%) of study population scored 20 or above, which is the cutoff point of EAT-26, indicating negative eating attitudes. There was significant difference found in prevalence of disordered eating attitudes in different BMI ranges. However, the association between student's age at menarche and abnormal eating attitude was not statistically significant. Conclusion:The findings support our hypothesis of a relatively high rate of abnormal eating attitudes (as reflected by high EAT-26 score) in this population. The results have important implication for increasing awareness about an emerging clinical problem. The prevalence of eating disorder is the most useful measure for planning health care facilities, as it indicates the demand for care.

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