Mohammad Athar Ansari

Adverse eating behavior and its association with obesity in Indian adolescents: Evidence from a nonmetropolitan city in India

Introduction: With the so-called modernization, the epidemiological and sociocultural context of adolescents in developing countries is rapidly changing and is affecting their eating behavior and dietary choices. The objective of our study is twofold. First, our study seeks to find whether there is a prevalence of the adverse eating behaviors among the adolescents. Second, our study seeks to examine whether the prevalence of the adverse eating behavior is related to obesity and quantifies their association of with body mass index (BMI) status. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted in 13–15-year-old adolescents from schools of Aligarh, India, with prevalidated study tools and standardized anthropometric measures. The Z-scores were found by the WHO recommended AnthroPlus. Results: The results indicate a high prevalence of different adverse eating behaviors. The dietary behavior was found to be poor in 19.3%, fair in 54.4%, and good in only 26.3% of the study population. The mean BMI for age Z-score was found to be 0.87 and 0.02 in poor and fair dietary behavior. The odds of being overweight and obese were high (1.82 [1.20–2.78]) in those with poor dietary behavior. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that more research and timely intervention in adverse eating behaviors are much needed in India before this widely neglected problem acquires even more alarming and gigantic proportions.

Assessment of directly observed treatment in revised national tuberculosis control programme: A study from North India

Introduction: Directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS) strategy is one of the vital components of Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) came into existence in 1997. Directly observed treatment providers (DOT providers) are the grass root level link between program and clients. Aims: This study was undertaken to assess the quality of DOTS and facilities available at DOT centers and association between program input and outcome. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was carried out to evaluate RNTCP in a North Indian District. Totally, 42 DOT providers providing treatment to registered RNTCP patients in four designated microscopy centers were included in this study. Program input was assessed based on a ten-point questionnaire regarding processes and facilities followed DOT center. Treatment outcome of 302 patients receiving DOTS under these providers was also assessed. Statistical Analysis: Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Categorical variables such as age group, sex, religion, location, work experience of DOT providers are measured in frequency and percentage. Chi-square was used to find association between quality of DOTS and outcome of treatment. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The basic principle of DOTS was followed only in half (47.6%) of the DOT centers, counseling was not being done by 40.5% of the providers. Formal training of DOTS was given to two-thirds of the providers. The treatment outcome of patients was significantly associated with program input at DOT center level (Chi-square = 4.02, P < 0.05). Conclusions: There are few gaps in DOT practices such as administration of DOTS, patient counseling, and tracing of follow-up. This study also concluded that improved program input can enable to get a better outcome.