Socio-economic and socio-demographic determinants of diet diversity among rural pregnant women from Pune, India.

Background: Diet diversity signifies the nutrient adequacy of an individual and thus has gained widespread significance in recent times. In developing countries achieving maximum diet diversity, especially among pregnant women from rural areas is challenging although of great importance. However, to do so understanding the primary factors associated with diet diversity is important.

Compromised maternal nutritional status in early pregnancy and its relation to the birth size in young rural Indian mothers.

Background: Low birth weight is highly prevalent in rural India. As a chronic undernutrition problem, poor birth outcomes are closely related to various nutritional factors more prominently the poor maternal anthropometry at conception. The purpose of the study was to identify how compromised maternal nutritional status in early pregnancy affects the birth size of rural Indian mothers.

Adverse Maternal Nutritional Status Affects Birth Weight among Rural Mothers of Maharashtra.

Maternal anthropometry and its influence on the birth weight has been studied widely, but effects of maternal undernutrition in-utero depicted by surrogate measures of sitting height and head circumference are largely unknown. We have studied the maternal sitting height along with other conventional nutritional status indicators at registration in predicting the risk of low birth weight (LBW) among 204 young rural women. Information on socio-demographic and economic profile, anthropometric measurements at registration and neonatal birth weight after delivery was recorded.

Differential Risk of Hypertension Among Lean and Nonlean Rural Subjects in Relation to Decadal Changes in Anthropometry.

Objective: Assessing risk of hypertension in relation to decadal changes in anthropometry among cohort of young rural Indian men.

Methods: Subjects (n = 140) were measured in 2005 and 2015 for blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), body fat (BF), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and additionally for visceral fat (VF) at follow-up.

Results: Decadal changes showed significant (p < 0.

Decisional control preferences among patients with advanced cancer: An international multicenter cross-sectional survey.

Background: Understanding patients' decision control preferences is important in providing quality cancer care. Patients' decisional control preference can be either active (patients prefer to make decisions themselves), shared (collaborative between patient, their physician, and/or family), or passive (patients prefer that the decisions are made by either the physician and/or their family).

Aim: To determine the frequency and predictors of passive decision control preferences among advanced cancer patients.

Perception of Curability Among Advanced Cancer Patients: An International Collaborative Study.

Background: There are limited data on illness understanding and perception of cure among advanced cancer patients around the world. The aim of the study was to determine the frequency and factors associated with inaccurate perception of curability among advanced cancer patients receiving palliative care across the globe.

Materials And Methods: Secondary analysis of a study to understand the core concepts in end-of-life care among advanced cancer patients receiving palliative care from 11 countries across the world.

Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of novel N-aryl-3,4-dihydro-1'H-spiro[chromene-2,4'-piperidine]-1'-carboxamides as TRPM8 antagonists.

A novel series of N-aryl-3,4-dihydro-1'H-spiro[chromene-2,4'-piperidine]-1'-carboxamides was identified as transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) channel blockers through analogue-based rational design, synthesis and screening. Details of the synthesis, effect of aryl groups and their substituents on in-vitro potency were studied. The effects of selected functional groups on the 4-position of the chromene ring were also studied, which showed interesting results.

Maternal lipids are as important as glucose for fetal growth: findings from the Pune Maternal Nutrition Study.

Objective: To study the relationship between maternal circulating fuels and neonatal size and compare the relative effects of glucose and lipids.

Research Design And Methods: The Pune Maternal Nutrition Study (1993-1996) investigated the influence of maternal nutrition on fetal growth. We measured maternal body size and glucose and lipid concentrations during pregnancy and examined their relationship with birth size in full-term babies using correlation and regression techniques.

Dietary diversification for prevention of anaemia among women of childbearing age from rural India.

Objective: To assess the impact of an intervention modifying dietary habits for the prevention of anaemia in rural India.

Design: Intervention study with data on anthropometric (weight, height) measurements, Hb and diet pattern. As per the cut-off for Hb in the government programme, women with Hb <11 g/dl had to be given Fe tablets and formed the supplemented group while those with Hb > 11 g/dl formed the non-supplemented group.

Population-based intervention for cardiovascular diseases related knowledge and behaviours in Asian Indian women.

Background & Objectives: There is poor knowledge and behaviors regarding chronic diseases related nutritional and lifestyle factors among women in low income countries. To evaluate efficacy of a multilevel population-based intervention in improving knowledge and practices for related factors we performed a study in India.

Methods: Population based study among women 35-70 years was performed in four urban and five rural locations.

Dietary Habits of Female Urban Slum-dwellers in Mumbai.

RESEARCH QUESTION: Intakes of micronutrient-rich foods are low among women of child-bearing age living in slums. We investigated relationships between consumption of these foods and socio-demographic variables. METHODOLOGY: A 91-item Food Frequency Questionnaire was administered to women (n=1651) aged 16-40 yrs living in a Mumbai slum.

Secular trends in growth of preschool children from rural Maharashtra, India.

The study examined the secular trends in growth of preschool children from rural Maharashtra, India, during 1985-2001. Anthropometric data collected on preschool (< 6 years old) children during 2001 (n = 1,171) and 1985 (n = 979) from the same villages were compared. Decadal change increased with age and was marginally higher in boys than girls.

HIV-related stigma in rural and tribal communities of Maharashtra, India.

Stigma is a recognized barrier to early detection of HIV and causes great suffering for those affected. This paper examines HIV-related stigma in rural and tribal communities of Maharashtra, an area of relatively high HIV prevalence in India. The study used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to compare adult women and adolescents in a rural area, women in a rural area, and women in a tribal area.

Maternal long-chain PUFA supplementation during protein deficiency improves brain fatty acid accretion in rat pups by altering the milk fatty acid composition of the dam.

Long-chain PUFA (LC-PUFA) are important for fetal and neonatal brain development. However, their accretion in the brain is compromised during maternal protein restriction. Hence, we investigated the effect of maternal supplementation with n-3 DHA plus n-6 arachidonic acid (ARA) at a low protein level (9 %) on offspring brain fatty acid accretion using Wistar rats (nine rats per group) randomly fed a control (C), a low-protein (LP) or a low-protein DHA + ARA-supplemented (LPS) diet during gestation and lactation.

A question module for assessing community stigma towards HIV in rural India.

This paper describes a simple question module to assess community stigma in rural India. Fear of stigma is known to prevent people from seeking HIV testing and to contribute to further disease transmission, yet relatively little attention has been paid to community stigma and ways of measuring it. The module, based on a vignette of a fictional HIV-positive woman, was administered to 494 married women and 186 unmarried male and female adolescents in a village in rural Maharashtra, India.

Migrating husbands and changing cardiovascular risk factors in the wife: a cross sectional study in Asian Indian women.

Objective: The authors studied the influence of migration of husband on cardiovascular risk factors in Asian Indian women.

Methods: Population-based studies in women aged 35-70 years were performed in four urban and five rural locations. 4608 (rural 2604 and urban 2004) of the targeted 8000 (57%) were enrolled.

Prevalence of high blood pressure among young rural adults in relation to height in childhood and adult body mass index.

Objective: Evidence, mostly based on developed countries, indicates that disease risks may be associated with changes in growth processes rather than a one-point phenomenon. In view of the increasing prevalence of hypertension in India, there is a need to understand how patterns of growth during early childhood and adolescence influence blood pressure in adulthood, particularly among rural populations in India.

Methods: The risk of hypertension was examined in 378 rural men older than 20 years who were measured for anthropometry during early childhood, adolescence, and as young adults in a community-based cohort study.

Determinants of urban-rural differences in cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged women in India: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the most important cause of death amongst middle-aged Indian women. To determine prevalence of CVD risk factors and their determinants we performed a nationwide study.

Methods: Population based studies amongst women 35-70 years were performed in four urban and five rural locations in India.

Social dimensions related to anaemia among women of childbearing age from rural India.

Objective: To examine various sociodemographic aspects related to consumption of micronutrient-rich foods like green leafy vegetables (GLV), which will be helpful in modifying dietary habits, a strategy that merits consideration for prevention of anaemia.

Design: Cross-sectional study for collecting data on socio-economic and anthropometric (weight, height) variables, Hb, dietary pattern (FFQ) and peripheral smear examination for classifying nutritional and iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA).

Setting: Three villages near Pune city, Maharashtra, India.

Putting people first: a primary health care success in rural India.

Background: The World Health Report, 2008, contains a global review of primary health care on the 30th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma-Ata. The period covered by the study reported on here corresponds with that of the Report, allowing for a comparison of achievements and challenges in one primary health care centre vis-a-vis the WHO standards.

Materials And Methods: This study uses qualitative and quantitative data from a rural primary care facility in Western Maharashtra, collected over three decades.

Parental history lowers body mass index risk cutoff for hypertension among urban Indian adults.

Objective: Parental history of hypertension, a commonly occurring nonmodifiable genetic risk factor, was examined for its influence on cutoff for body mass index (BMI) for identifying risk of hypertension.

Design: Data on BMI, body fat (%), blood pressure (BP), parental history of hypertension, and lifestyle factors were collected through a cross-sectional study.

Setting: Pune City, Maharashtra, India.

Osteoporosis in men.

Osteoporosis is an important and often overlooked problem in men. Although the lifetime risk of hip fracture is lower in men than in women, men are twice as likely to die after a hip fracture. Bone mineral density measurement with a T-score of -2.

Early life undernutrition and adolescent pregnancy outcome in rural India.

Background: In poor communities of the Third World, adolescent pregnancy outcomes are likely to be worse in view of the prevailing chronic undernutrition.

Aim: The study examined the confounding effect of early life undernutrition on adolescent pregnancy outcome in rural India.

Subjects And Methods: Retrospective information on socio-economic, demographic and anthropometric variables, gynaecological and obstetric history, pregnancy outcome and birth weight was obtained on 326 primigravid young married rural girls during 1998-2001.

Seasonality in maternal intake and activity influence offspring's birth size among rural Indian mothers--Pune Maternal Nutrition Study.

Background: Farming populations from developing countries are exposed to seasonal energy stress due to variations in food availability and energy output related to agricultural activities. This study aims to examine the impact of seasonality in maternal intake and activity on neonatal size.

Methods: Maternal anthropometry, dietary intakes (24-h recall and food-frequency questionnaire) and activity pattern (questionnaire) at 18 +/- 2 and 28 +/- 2 weeks gestation, and neonatal anthropometry, were measured in a prospective study of 797 rural Indian women.