Differential estimates of underweight-for-age and growth related morbidity according to different growth standards in Indian children.

Objective: To compare the four different growth standards currently used in India [WHO (World Health Organization); NCHS (National Center for Health Statistics); ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme); IAP (Indian Academy of Pediatrics)] and determine which better predicts growth related morbidity in children after 3 mo of follow-up.

Methods: The present cohort study was done at Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur, India. Eligible children were those who had; > 3 unformed stools in the prior 24 h, the duration of their diarrhea was up to 72 h; and they were able to accept oral fluids or feeds.

Childhood illness in households using biomass fuels in India: secondary data analysis of nationally representative national family health surveys.

Background: Half of the world's population uses solid fuels for energy and cooking, resulting in 1.5 million deaths annually, approximately one-third of which occur in India. Most deaths are linked to childhood pneumonia or acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI), conditions that are difficult to diagnose.

Skewed sex ratios in India: "physician, heal thyself".

Sex selection, a gender discrimination of the worst kind, is highly prevalent across all strata of Indian society. Physicians have a crucial role in this practice and implementation of the Indian Government's Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act in 1996 to prevent the misuse of ultrasound techniques for the purpose of prenatal sex determination. Little is known about family preferences, let alone preferences among families of physicians.

Zinc and copper supplementation are not cost-effective interventions in the treatment of acute diarrhea.

Background: Diarrhea is one of the principal causes of morbidity and mortality among children in the developing world. Cumulative costs of treating diarrhea would be high and would further increase if zinc was used as an adjunct to treatment of acute diarrhea.

Objective: To determine the impact of zinc supplementation on the mean predicted costs of treating acute diarrhea and the incremental cost-effectiveness (CE) as compared with placebo, from the provider's (government) and patient's perspective.

Therapeutic zinc and copper supplementation in acute diarrhea does not influence short-term morbidity and growth: double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Our objective was to evaluate the effect of zinc and copper supplementation in acute diarrhea on morbidity and growth during 12 weeks of follow-up. In a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial of 724 children aged 6-59 months, none of the 11 evaluated outcomes showed significant association with zinc or zinc and copper supplementation. Thus, therapeutic zinc supplementation may not always yield short-term -benefits.

Determinants of inappropriate complementary feeding practices in young children in India: secondary analysis of National Family Health Survey 2005-2006.

In India, poor feeding practices in early childhood contribute to the burden of malnutrition as well as infant and child mortality. This paper aims to use the newly developed World Health Organization (WHO) infant feeding indicators to determine the prevalence of complementary feeding indicators among children of 6-23 months of age and to identify the determinants of inappropriate complementary feeding practices in India. The study data on 15,028 last-born children aged 6-23 months was obtained from the National Family Health Survey 2005-2006.

Risk factors for predicting diarrheal duration and morbidity in children with acute diarrhea.

Objective: To identify baseline risk factors for prolonged diarrheal duration and subsequent complications in children aged 6 to 59 mo with acute diarrhea who participated in a micronutrient clinical trial in a tertiary care hospital.

Methods: The adjusted odds ratio or incidence risk ratios (IRR) of the baseline variables for prolongation of diarrheal duration (cox proportional hazard model), diarrhea >7 d (multiple logistic regressions), severe dehydration experienced after hospitalization (poisson regression models) was estimated.

Results: Fever (OR 1.

What zinc supplementation does and does not achieve in diarrhea prevention: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Prevention of diarrhea has presented indomitable challenges. A preventive strategy that has received significant interest is zinc supplementation. Existing literature including quantitative meta-analyses and systematic reviews tend to show that zinc supplementation is beneficial however evidence to the contrary is augmenting.

Infant and young child feeding indicators and determinants of poor feeding practices in India: secondary data analysis of National Family Health Survey 2005-06.

Background: In India, poor feeding practices in early childhood contribute to the burden of malnutrition and infant and child mortality.

Objective: To estimate infant and young child feeding indicators and determinants of selected feeding practices in India.

Methods: The sample consisted of 20,108 children aged 0 to 23 months from the National Family Health Survey India 2005-06.

Influence of zinc supplementation in acute diarrhea differs by the isolated organism.

Zinc supplementation is recommended in all acute diarrheas in children from developing countries. We aimed to assess whether zinc supplementation would be equally effective against all the common organisms associated with acute diarrheas. We used data on 801 children with acute diarrhea recruited in a randomized, double blind controlled trial (ISRCTN85071383) of zinc and copper supplementation.

Therapeutic value of zinc supplementation in acute and persistent diarrhea: a systematic review.

Background: For over a decade, the importance of zinc in the treatment of acute and persistent diarrhea has been recognized. In spite of recently published reviews, there remain several unanswered questions about the role of zinc supplementation in childhood diarrhea in the developing countries. Our study aimed to assess the therapeutic benefits of zinc supplementation in the treatment of acute or persistent diarrhea in children, and to examine the causes of any heterogeneity of response to zinc supplementation.

Zinc and copper supplementation in acute diarrhea in children: a double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Background: Diarrhea causes an estimated 2.5 million child deaths in developing countries each year, 35% of which are due to acute diarrhea. Zinc and copper stores in the body are known to be depleted during acute diarrhea.