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Anthropometric measurements of school-going-girls of the Punjab, Pakistan.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Child's growth has been considered an important indicator to evaluate health trends in a population and to devise strategies accordingly. The purpose of the present study was to determine most commonly occurring weight abnormalities among school-going girls from Punjab and to compare with international growth references devised by World Health Organization (WHO) and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). METHODS:In this cross-sectional study a sample of 10,050 child and adolescent girls from 12 districts, 35 public/private sector schools, located in rural, semi-urban and urban areas of northern, central and southern Punjab were included. Parameters were measured according to standardised techniques and centile curves obtained by Lambda, Mu, Sigma (LMS) method. RESULTS:The results showed an increase in weight, height and BMI of the Punjabi girls until 15?years. When compared with international growth references, weight and BMI in our population were significantly lowered; however, height was lower during 12-16?years of age and the differences observed were more pronounced with CDC as compared to WHO. When 3rd, 50th and 90th percentiles of weight, height and BMI in our population were compared with international standards, the values were lower in our paediatric population. CONCLUSION:The Punjabi schoolgirls significantly differed from CDC and WHO references, and this difference should be taken into consideration for evaluation of growth abnormalities in our paediatric population. However, in the absence of national reference data, WHO standards have been considered more appropriate for comparison.

SUBMITTER: Karim A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7229613 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Anthropometric measurements of school-going-girls of the Punjab, Pakistan.

Karim Asima A Qaisar Rizwan R

BMC pediatrics 20200516 1

<h4>Background</h4>Child's growth has been considered an important indicator to evaluate health trends in a population and to devise strategies accordingly. The purpose of the present study was to determine most commonly occurring weight abnormalities among school-going girls from Punjab and to compare with international growth references devised by World Health Organization (WHO) and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).<h4>Methods</h4>In this cross-sectional study a sample of 10,050 ...[more]

PMID: 32416717

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Project description:Plant species of the Poaceae family are not only used as fodder and forage but also contribute substantially to the treatment of various health disorders, particularly in livestock. Consequently, the present study was aimed to document the therapeutic uses of Poaceae practiced by the inhabitants of the Punjab Province for the treatment of various veterinary health disorders. Semi structured interviews, group discussion and field walks were conducted to collect the data. Quantitative indices including cultural significance index (CSI), relative frequency of citations (RFC), fidelity level (FL), relative popularity level (RPL), and Jaccard Index (JI) were used for the data analysis. Traditional uses of 149 species belonging to 60 genera and 16 tribes of 5 sub families of Poaceae were recorded. Whole plants and leaves were the most consistently used parts with 40.94 and 29.53%. The plants were mainly given orally as fodder (59 reports) without processing followed by decoction (35 reports). Most of the species were employed to treat infectious diseases (25.93%), and digestive disorders (14.10%). Triticum aestivum had the highest CSI, RFC and RPL levels at 8.00, 0.96, 1.00, respectively, followed by Oryza sativa and Poa annua. Likewise, T. aestivum and Saccharum spontaneum had 100% FL and ROP. Jaccard index ranged from 12.25 to 0.37. Twelve plant species namely Chrysopogon zizanioides (anti-inflammatory), Pennisetum lanatum (improve bull fertility), Cymbopogon citratus (glandular secretion), Sorghum saccharatum and Themeda triandra (malaria), Aristida funiculate (anticancer), Koeleria argentia (skin allergies), Tetrapogon villosus (antibacterial), Cynodon radiatus (eyes infection), Sporobolus nervosa (Jaundice), Enneapogon persicus (antifungal), and Panicum repens (dysfunctional cattle organs) were reported for the first time, with novel ethnoveterinary uses. The inhabitants of the study area had a strong association with their surrounding plant diversity and possessed significant knowledge on therapeutic uses of Poaceae to treat various health disorders in animals. Plant species with maximum cultural and medicinal values could be a potential source of novel drugs to cure health disorders in animals and human as well.

Project description:Reports from drug utilization reviews are important tools employed in the assessment of healthcare practices. The objective of this study was to evaluate drug utilization patterns among elderly hospitalized patients on poly-pharmacy regimens in Pakistan.A descriptive, non-experimental, cross-sectional study was carried out from December 2015 to March 2016 in six tertiary-care hospitals in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The population under study were patients aged ≥60 years, taking ≥5 medicines per day (i.e., patients on poly-pharmacy) and who were hospitalized in the selected tertiary-care hospitals. In this study, data was collected from 600 hospitalized elderly patients (100 patients per hospital). All medicines prescribed on each in-patient chart were noted on a pre-designed pro-forma sheet and were classified under the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the independent factors associated with poly-pharmacy in this cohort. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data. P-value < .05 indicated statistical significance.In 600 hospitalized in-patient (male 52.7% and female 47.3%) medication charts, 3179 medicines were prescribed. The most commonly prescribed drug classes were: A: alimentary tract and metabolism 80% (A02: drugs for acid related disorders 64.5%, A03: drugs for functional gastrointestinal disorders 21.5%), N: nervous system 66.3% (N02: analgesics 67.2%, N03: antiepileptic's 11.2%), J: anti-infectives for systemic use 62.2% (J01: antibacterial for systemic use 82.5%, J04: antimycobacterials 15.3%) and C: cardiovascular system 48.3% (C07: beta blocking agents 19.8%, C10: lipid modifying agents 16.5%), respectively. The most commonly prescribed active substances were: A02BC01 (omeprazole 51.3%), N02BE01 (paracetamol 50.8%) and J01DD04 (ceftriaxone 40.2%), respectively. In multiple linear regression analysis, male gender (95% CI -.205, -.006, p = .039, B = -.091), being divorced (95% CI -.604, -.136, p = .002, B = -.130) and presence of comorbidity (95% CI .068, .267, p = .001, B = .144) were the independent factors associated with increased drug use among elderly hospitalized patients on poly-pharmacy.The rational use of medicines is of utmost importance, most particularly in the elderly population. More consideration should be given to rationalizing pharmacotherapy in elderly hospitalized patients who are on poly-pharmacy regimens in Pakistan.

Project description:BackgroundWetlands are biologically diverse and highly productive ecosystems that support one-third of all threatened and endangered plants of the world. Wetland plants have been studied ethnobotanically much less than terrestrial plants, including in Pakistan, thus information about the uses of local wetland plants in traditional healthcare system is scare. Head Maralla is a non-recognized wetland with diversified flora that has been focused of the current study.MethodsThe ethnobotanical data were collected from four sites viz., River Tavi, Upstream Chenab, River Manawarwala Tavi, and Bhalolpur through questionnaire and interviews during field trips. Quantitative indices including informant consensus factor (ICF), cultural significant indext (CSI), relative frequency of citation (RFC), and use value (UV) were used to analyze the data.ResultsOn the whole, 119 plant species were identified belonging to 54 families, of which 87 species were dicot, 12 monocots, 11 aquatic, 5 ferns, and 4 species were bryophytes. Of these, 50% of the plant species were utilized for therapeutic purposes, followed by leaves which had more than 20% usage of total consumption. Herbs were the primary source of medicine (73 spp) followed by trees (22 spp), weeds (11 spp), shrubs (9 spp), foliose (2 spp) and thaloids (2 spp) in the area. Fic ranged from 0.66 to 0.93 for constipation and respiratory disorders with an average Fic of 0.87 reflecting a high consensus among the informants about the use of plants to treat particular ailment. Major ailments viz., urination (14%), cough (8.40%), cold (6.70%), stomach (5.90%), asthma (5.90%), skin infection (5%), constipation (5%), and diarrhea (4%) etc., were treated with local plant recipes. The highest CSI value was found for A. vesica (7.55) widely used in respiratory disorders and in digestive problems. RFC ranged from 0.92 to 0.15 with the maximum value obtained for R. communis (0.95). The use values ranged from 0.03 to 0.90 with the maximum use value for R. communis (0.90). A positive correlation was found between CSI and RFC (r = 0.29), and CSI and UV (r = 0.29). The JI values ranged from 7.14 to 0.14 indicating strong affinity with Samahani valley, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. Unique species Osmunda regalis was first time reported from Pakistan with novel uses for renal and blood purifier. Fifteen percent (15%) plants contribute as fodder species consumed by local community for livestock while almost 6.7% species were utilized for timber and fuel purposes.ConclusionThe ecosystem of Head Maralla provide a complex habitat for aqauatic, terrestrial, and agriculture wetland vegetation. It is suggested that conservation efforts should be made to conserve the ethnoecological knowledge of these areas and pharmacological studies should be conducted for noval drug synthesis in future.

Project description:BackgroundPoor diet is a risk factor for anemia, overweight, and obesity among adolescent girls. However, comprehensive assessment on dietary quality and habits in this population is limited. We assessed the association of meal patterning, dietary quality, and dietary diversity with both anemia and overweight-obesity.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey in 335 school-going adolescent girls aged 12-19 years from three districts in West Java using multi-stage cluster sampling. Meal patterning, Dietary Quality Index for Adolescents (DQI-A), and Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) were determined using 2-day 24-h recall.ResultsOf the girls, 45% were anemic and 17% overweight or obese. Eating occasions of 3-4 times (AOR 2.68, 95% CI 1.21-5.98) and >4 times (AOR 2.43, 95% CI 1.01-5.83) were associated with greater odds of developing anemia compared to eating occasions of <3 times. Adolescent girls who skipped dinner had greater odds of being overweight or obese (AOR 2.13, 95% CI 1.10-4.10) and were less likely to be anemic (AOR 0.56, 95%CI 0.33-0.95) compared to those who did not skip dinner. Difference in energy intake was found between girls who had dinner and skipped dinner (p = 0.05). Mean total DQI-A score was 44.4% ± 7.71% and DDS was 4.0 out of 9.0. DQI-A score was significantly higher in non-anemic compared to anemic girls. Moreover, each unit increment of 1% of total DQI-A score was associated with a 3.967 g/dL increases of hemoglobin after adjustment for confounders. We found differences in total DQI-A score between normal-weight and overweight or obese girls. DDS score was not significantly different between groups, although lower meat, chicken, and fish consumption were correlated with anemia (p<0.01).ConclusionsOverall, the girls had poor dietary quality and diversity. The findings therefore indicated the importance of improving dietary quality and diversity in a regular meal pattern, especially meal frequency and meal skipping, to reduce the risk of anemia and overweight-obesity among adolescent girls.

Dataset Information

Anthropometric measurements of school-going-girls of the Punjab, Pakistan.

Publications

Anthropometric measurements of school-going-girls of the Punjab, Pakistan.

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