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ThesisItem Open Access Contributing factors and problems associated with overweight among rural and urban school children(College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2008) Ambily, G Uniithan; KAU; Syamakumari, SWe live in an energy sparing society today. Changes in diet coupled with increasingly inactive life styles have sparked off overweight and obesity in several countries of the world including India and Kerala. Overweight is associated with the onset of major chronic diseases leading to complications and also psychosocial problems in children and adults. The greater concern is that the risks of overweight during childhood will persist into adolescence and adulthood. Hence close monitoring of overweight prevalence in children and adolescents and taking timely preventive measures will be an effective approach in dealing with the problem of obesity. The study entitled “Contributing factors and problems associated with overweight among rural and urban school children” was undertaken with the major objective to assess the contributing factors and related problems due to overweight among rural and urban school going children and to find out the impact of diet counselling. A total of 3886 children from the selected schools were screened for overweight and obesity using standard overweight/obesity indicators. The sample selected for the study comprised of a total of 840 school going children of which 720 belonged to the experimental group of overweight children and 120 belongs to the control group of normal weight children. The sample was selected from 10-15 years of age group with equal number of boys and girls from each of the six age groups selected from rural and urban areas of Thiruvananthapuram District. A comprehensive analysis of socio economic and demographic features, time utilization, activity pattern and dietary profile of the subjects were carried out to find out the contributing factors behind the development of overweight and obesity in school going children. A probe into the health, physical, academic, psychosocial and behavioural adjustment problems was also undertaken to get a picturesque and exhaustive information on the problems associated with overweight and obesity. A systematic and in-depth appraisal to understand the dietary adequacy, macronutrient intake, energy balance and impact of diet counselling and health education was also carried out on the micro sample of 120 children selected from the macro sample of 840 overweight and normal weight children. The data collected was statistically analysed to determine the significant difference between the overweight and normal weight children in the areas studied and also to give the relationship or association of the variables selected for the study. The major findings of the study are: From the total of 3886 children screened, the overall prevalence of childhood obesity was found to be 4.99 per cent, 17.73 per cent was overweight when only 58.67 per cent was normal weight, 16.16 per cent was under weight with a BMI less than 15, and 2.44 were severely malnourished with BMI less than 13. An interesting observation made was that the overall prevalence of overweight and underweight was comparable at 16 to18 percent. The study thus proved that even though the indicators of over nutrition like overweight and obesity are rising disturbingly, undernutrition is still a problem even in Kerala. Region wise comparison of anthropometric measurements revealed that there was significant difference at 1 per cent level in body weight, BMI, body fat, waist circumference, waist:hip ratio and MUAC of overweight and normal weight children. The sample as a whole form two homogeneous groups with most of the overweight children hailing from middle income and upper middle income whereas majority of the normal weight children were from lower middle income and middle income showing that income is a contributing factor for overweight and obesity. Majority of the children in both groups were from nuclear families with one or two siblings and with parents having good education and employment status. A greater majority of overweight children were living in own houses. The dietary habits and preferences of the sample studied were in par with earlier studies done in this field with significant difference between overweight and normal weight children. Results revealed that snacking habits seen in overweight children could also be a contributing factor of obesity. The study also revealed that majority of the sample in both groups were non –vegetarians. The intake of cereals, meat group, snacks, hotel/canteen foods, and sweets were higher in overweight children. Similarly, the intake of macronutrients like carbohydrate, fat and protein were also significantly higher in overweight children. The activities and time utilization pattern of the overweight and normal weight subjects were noted to have a significant contribution to their weight condition. The sedentary activities were significantly higher and heavy activities were significantly lower in overweight children confirming the proved fact that the lesser the energy spent, more is the gain in weight. The evaluation of the energy balance computed from energy intake and energy expenditure revealed the following. The difference in energy intake and the positive energy balance was found to be significantly higher in overweight children compared to that of normal weight children indicating the need for maintaining an energy balance consistently for weight maintenance. The knowledge, attitude and practices of the children were assessed in the areas of nutrition, diet related diseases, physical activity and weight reduction. The difference was found to be significant between overweight and normal weight groups in all the three areas with normal weight having higher scores indicating better knowledge, right attitude and correct practices. When the problems associated with overweight and obesity were assessed, overweight children were noted to have more problems associated with puberty like early menarche, problems with menstrual bleeding in girls while early/late voice change and appearance of facial hair and secondary sex characteristics were seen in boys. The health and physical problems, though not very prominent in both weight groups, the percentage of overweight children having health and physical problems were higher. Similarly, the psycho social and behavioural adjustment and academic problems in overweight children were significantly higher than normal weight children. On assessment of the impact of diet counselling, a significant difference at 1 per cent level was observed in the before and after values of weight, BMI and body fat of overweight children. Overweight children who received diet counselling and health education showed significant reduction in weight, BMI and body fat when compared to that of control group. The study revealed that family history of obesity, high financial status, and dietary factors like faulty dietary habits and excessive intake of energy dense foods along with increased sedentary life style and significant reduction in physical activity or energy expenditure form the major contributing factors towards the development of overweight and obesity. Overweight and obese children are also found to have significantly higher pubertal problems, health, physical, academic, psychosocial and behavioural adjustment problems than normal weight children. However the study proved that, with proper dietary and behavioural interventions along with constant help, support, encouragement and motivation from all the family members and health care professionals, overweight children can definitely regain and maintain their ideal body weights and lead a normal healthy way of life. The control of this epidemic is a challenge and requires strong social and political will in addition to medical management. The results obtained suggest the intervening role of socio-economic and demographic environment, knowledge, attitude and food habits, life style pattern, work load and psychosocial adjustments on the dietary profile of overweight children. This prompts for further researches to improve the nutrition related knowledge of children and to inculcate the importance of leading a healthy life style which incorporate ample physical activity with decreased work load and tension. Urgent measures to improve the food habits of school going children are also recommended. Parents are the key players when developing interventional programmes in children. Therefore interventional programmes should be planned in such way that will create awareness in parents about the importance of weight reduction in leading a healthy life with lesser physical, psychosocial and health problems through proper diet and adequate physical activity.ThesisItem Open Access Nutritional profile of women participating in kudumbasree programmes(College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2009) Shiji, N; KAU; Usha, VA study on “Nutrtional profile of women participating in Kudumbasree programmes” was carried out among women in Nadathara panchayat, Thrissur district. A total of 120 women were selected randomly for the study. Out of this, 100 women from Kudumbasree members and 20 women from non members of Kudumbasree. Information regarding the socio economic conditions of the families revealed that, most of the families in both KM and NM were Hindus and belonged to other backward communities with a family size of 3 to 5 members and majority of families were of nuclear type. The composition of the families indicated that, among adults number of females was higher than the males and among children number of boys was higher than the girls. Educational status of the family members showed that majority in both groups and all the respondents were literates. Work participation of family members revealed that, majority of male members in both groups were engaged in either permanent or temporary type of jobs. And among women the percentage of ‘no work’ category was high in NM families than in KM families. Monthly income of the KM families varied from Rs.2001 to 4000 whereas in NM families it was Rs.1001 to 3000. Details of activities of KM respondents revealed that, they were engaged in 7 different types of activities in different units with a monthly income ranging from Rs.3000 to 10,000. Clay work and garment making were the two activities with more units. Highest income was for convenient food making unit and lowest income was observed for chocolate making unit, banana products making unit and one papad making unit. Majority of KM respondents received more than Rs.1000 per month from their income generating activities and most of them contributed to about 31-60 per cent of their family income. About 15 cents of land was owned by most of the KM and NM families and had no specific cultivation in their land. Most of the KM families borrowed money from the Kudumbasree fund and house construction was the main purpose of loan whereas NM families took loan from kuris mainly for marriage expenses of the family members. The loan amount varied from Rs.20,000-30,000 in KM families and in NM families ranging from Rs.40,000-50,000.All the KM families saved money whereas the per cent of families with saving was less in NM families. Monthly expenditure of KM families were significantly higher than the NM families on various aspects except for expenditure for health and fuel. Maximum proportion of income was spent on food items in both groups. Primary health center was utilized by majority of KM and NM families for health care. Morbidity pattern in the families for the past one year revealed that, majority had only fever. Majority of the families in both groups had their own houses with brick walls and tiled roof but number of rooms were more in KM families (3-5 rooms). All the families in both groups had separate kitchen and proper lavatory facilities. Most of the families had adequate drainage facilities. Majority of the families in both groups had recreational facilities like TV or radio. Most of the families had water sources from their own well. Wood and LPG were used as fuel in most of the KM families whereas NM families used only wood for cooking foods. Training programmes were attended by most of the KM respondents related to their activity and also in other fields and maximum duration of training (1 year) was found for tailoring practices. Most of the KM respondents strongly agreed to the positive statements and strongly disagreed to the negative statements about the Kudumbasree programme. Food consumption pattern of the families indicated that majority of the families were non vegetarians. Cereals, other vegetables, roots and tubers, oils and fats, spices and condiments, fish and sugar were consumed most frequently by the KM families while in NM families all the above food items except roots and tubers were found to be the most frequently used food items. Three major meals was the meal pattern followed by most of the families. About 40 per cent of KM respondents used packed lunch during working days and rice and pulses were the main items for lunch. Pickling was the only method of food preservation observed in the families. In KM families some extra non vegetarian foods were given during special physiological conditions like pregnancy and lactation but this was not observed in NM families. During infancy most of the families in both groups gave ragi as the supplementary food. In disease conditions majority of the families gave rice porridge to the patients. Majority of families in both groups followed hygienic practices and most of the respondents had different food believes. Body mass index showed that 43 per cent of KM and 40 per cent of NM respondents were normal. Prevalence of mild and moderate malnutrition was found among NM respondents. One day food weighment survey indicated that the mean intake of all foods except flesh foods were significantly below the RDA among KM and NM respondents. The nutritional quality of the diet revealed that the intake of nutrients like protein, fat and riboflavin were significantly high in KM and NM respondents and the intake of iron, thiamin, niacin and vitamin C were satisfactory in KM respondents, while energy intake was significantly low. Clinical examination showed symptoms like xerosis, pigmentation and functional night blindness in the eyes and flourosis and carries among both groups of respondents. Biochemical examination of haemoglobin showed that 46.6 per cent of KM respondents were normal with a Hb level of 12g/100ml as against 10 per cent in NM respondents. There is a significant relationship was observed between the iron intake and Hb level of KM respondents.ThesisItem Open Access Quality evaluation of value added products with marine and fresh water fish(College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2009) Soumya, P S; KAU; Usha, VFish is recognized as an excellent source of protein, containing all the ten essential amino acids in desirable concentrations for human beings and available at cheaper rate. The present study, on “Quality evaluation of value added products with marine and fresh water fish” was aimed at evaluating the nutrients and developing products from four fish varieties namely pink perch (Nemipterus raponicus) and silver belly (Gerres filamentoses) belonging to marine species and tilapia (Tilapia mossambica) and katla (Catla catla) of fresh water species. Thus, in addition to the role of income generation, value addition helps to increase the acceptability of the fishes which are presently under utilized. The fresh fish varieties were analysed for chemical constituents like moisture, fat, protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A and peroxide value. Marine fish were found to be rich sources of calcium, phosphorus iron and fat, whereas fresh water fish were rich in protein and vitamin A. Fat content was comparatively low. Yield of fish muscle was found to be high in fresh water species like katla (78 per cent) and tilapia (75.5 per cent). Higher peroxide value was observed in marine varieties. The fish products like cutlet and stick were prepared following standard procedures and were packed in polythene covers and stored for a period of two months. The peroxide value of the products were found to increase with the storage period with significant variation. Products made out of pink perch had the highest peroxide value throughout the storage period and the lowest was in silver belly. Organoleptic evaluation of the products were carried out using a 9-point hedonic scale. Qualities such as appearance, colour, flavour, texture and taste of the developed products were evaluated for a period of two months at fortnightly intervals. The sensory qualities were found to decrease during storage with significant variation. Fish cutlets and sticks made of katla fish had the highest acceptability throughout the storage period. Microbial enumeration of the products revealed that there was a gradual increase in the microbial population with the storage period. Maximum bacterial count was in cutlets made of pink perch initially (1.33x105cfug-1) and finally (10.66 x105cfug-1). Minimum bacterial load was for katla. There was no significant variation in the bacterial load of fresh water fish cutlets but significant variation was observed in marine fish cutlet with pink perch showing significantly high bacterial load. Fungal population was detected in cutlets after 15th day of storage without any significant variation, but after 30 days, cutlet made of pink perch showed significantly high fungal population. Maximum yeast population was also in pink perch cutlet (2.66x103cfug-1) In fish stick also after 60 days of storage, bacterial count was maximum in pink perch (9.00x105cfug-1), fungal count and yeast count 7.33x103cfug-1 and 2.00x103cfug-1 respectively. The shelf life of the products with acceptable maximum total plate count was for 30 days. After 30 days of storage, the products had a total plate count higher than 5x105cfug-1 and also higher peroxide value which is an indication of developing rancidity of fats. This was reflected in their lowered organoleptic qualities with storage period. Katla fish products showed highest overall acceptability may be due to their comparatively low fat content in fish muscle (2.5g 100g-1). After two months of storage the products were found to be slimy with unpleasant odour. Computation of nutritive value of cutlets per packet (4 cutlets, 20g each) revealed a high protein content in tilapia (11.92g), calcium in pink perch (498.24mg), phosphorus in silver belly (382mg), iron in silver belly (2.96mg) and vitamin A in katla (93.12µg). Nutritive value of fish stick per packet (4 sticks, 25g each) revealed a high protein content in tilapia (16.36g), calcium in pink perch (698.12mg), phosphorus in silver belly (519.68mg), iron in silver belly (2.84mg) and vitamin A in katla (72.96µg) respectively.