Effect of peer counselling by mother support groups on infant and young child feeding practices: the Lalitpur experience.

OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to evaluate the effect of peer counselling by mother support groups (MSG's) in improving the infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in the community. METHODS: We conducted this repeated-measure before and after study in the Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India between 2006 and 2011. We assessed the IYCF practices before and after creating MSG's within the community. The feeding practices were reassessed at two time points-2 (T1) and 5 years (T2) after the intervention and compared with that of the pre-intervention phase (T0). RESULTS: The total population covered by the project from the time of its initiation was 105000. A total of 425 (T0), 480 (T1) and 521 (T2) mother infant pairs were selected from this population. There was significant improvement in the following IYCF practices in the community (represented as %; adjOR (95% CI, p) such as initiation of breast feeding within 1 hour at both T1 (71% vs. 11%); 19.6 (13.6, 28.2, p =  <0.0001)and T2 (62% vs. 11%); 13.3 (9.4, 18.9, p =  <0.0001); use of prelacteal feeds at both T1 (67% vs. 15%); 12.6 (CI: 9.0, 17.6, p<0.0001) and T2 (67% vs. 5%); 44.4 (28.8, 68.4, p = <0.0001); rates of exclusive breast feeding for 6 months at both T1 (50% vs. 7%); 13.6 (7.6, 25.0, p =  <0.0001) and T2 (60% vs. 7%); 20.5 (11.3, 37.2, p =  <0.0001); initiation of complementary feeding at T1 (85% vs. 54%); 5.6 (3.6, 8.7, p =  <0.0001) and T2 (96% vs. 54%); 22.9 (11.8, 44.1, p =  <0.0001) and complementary feeding along with continued breast feeding at both T1 (36% vs. 4.5%); 6 (1.15, 31.4, p = 0.033) and T2 (42% vs. 4.5%); 8.06 (1.96, 49.1, p = 0.005) as compared to pre-intervention period (T0) after adjusting for important social and demographic variables. CONCLUSIONS: Peer counseling by MSG's improved the IYCF practices in the district and could be sustained.

Reproductive tract infection in women of reproductive age group in Sitapur/Shahjahanpur District of Uttar Pradesh.

CARE India with its UP Office has initiated demand generation and acceptability of services for reproductive health and birth spacing services at community level in two districts in the state of Uttar Pradesh. A total of 3,49,000 women of reproductive age will benefit from participation in program activities over the next five years. Out of total surveyed population of 3662, 798 women of reproductive age group were identified of whom 272 were found to be symptomatically positive in relation of STDs/RTIs giving the overall prevalence rate of 34%. Clinical as well as the microbiological examination was carried out on 193 of these 272 women in field conditions. Those found clinically and/or microbiologically positive were provided treatment and preventive advice. Total of 150 (77.7%) women were diagnosed on the basis of symptoms (syndromic approach) and 151 (78.2%) were diagnosed on the basis of clinical examinations. However, 137 (70.9%) were confirmed microbiologically positive. A large extent was found in the age group of 15 to 24 years. Confirmed cases were comparatively less among nulliparous women (63.6%) than multipara (73.2%) cases. 64.1% women were having watery discharge while 29.1% were having complaint of curd discharge. The discharge was offensive in only 1.9% cases while 4.9% reported mixed discharge. 54.4% women complaining of vaginal discharge were suffering from PID. The discharge were either bacterial alone (26.1%) or bacterial mixed with candidiasis (16.5%) or trichomoniasis (8.7%). Compared to syndromic approach, an improvement in the sensitivity (81.8%) and predictive accuracy (74.1%) was noted when cases were detected with the help of clinical examination.

The relationship between market orientation and performance in the hospital industry: a structural equations modeling approach.

There is general consensus in the research literature that market orientation is related to organizational performance. This study examines this relationship in the hospital industry. One unique feature of this study is that both market orientation and performance are conceptualized as being multi-dimensional constructs. Hence the technique of Structural Equations Modeling (SEM) is used to examine the relationship. Analyses were based on market orientation and performance data obtained from 175 hospitals in a five-state region of the United States. The SEM results confirm the multi-dimensional nature of both market orientation and performance, and the strong relationship between the constructs. Interestingly, this relationship is found to be much stronger for smaller hospitals than for larger hospitals. Implications for the hospital industry are discussed.

Factors associated with fertility moderation in India.

PIP: The authors analyze intermediate variables associated with fertility decline in India from the 1960s to 1988. The focus is on comparisons among states as revealed primarily by data on couples protected from unwanted pregnancies by family planning methods. Variables considered include female age at marriage, female literacy, infant mortality, poverty, expenditure on health and family welfare, and income. Data are from official sources.^ieng

Anti-nutritional and toxic factors in food legumes: a review.

A comprehensive review on the presence of certain important anti-nutritional and toxic factors in food legumes has been conducted. These substances include proteolytic inhibitors, phytohemagglutinins, lathyrogens, cyanogenetic compounds, compounds causing favism, factors affecting digestibility and saponins. These factors are shown to be widely present in leguminous foods which are important constituents of the diet of a large section of the world's population, and particularly, of people in the developing countries.

Properties of cellulase from Trichoderma viride.

Cellulase produced by Trichoderma viride acted on carboxymethyl cellulose with a Km of 4.9 g substrate per litre, showing a pH optimum at 4.5 and a temperature optimum at 55 degrees C. Ag+, Hg2+, Zn2+, Cu2+ and N3- were inhibitory..

Dais' training programme--an exploratory study.

PIP: In 1972 the government of India appointed a committee to study the extent of the problem of the untrained dais and to review the training program for this group. This exploratory study aims at determining factors responsible for poor response to the dais' training program and the community's attitude towards the trained dais. 3 villages with a health sub-center and an ordinary village were selected for the rural area. Dariba Kalan was the selected urban area. An exhaustive list of live births during 1972 along with the name of the birth attendant in each case was compiled from health center records for these areas. Of the 278 births in the 3 villages, 55% were conducted by the untrained dais and the remaining 45% by the center staff. In the urban area 108 births were reported of which 79% were cared for by center staff and 21% by traditional trained dais. No untrained traditional dai was located in the study urban area. A suggestive assessment of quality of ante-natal, natal and post natal services provided by different categories of dais suggests that an indigenous trained or a maternal and child health center dai provides better services than an untrained dai. 37% of the mothers who did not call center dai for help with their deliveries in the rural area felt that the center staff would not be easily available at the time of delivery; 23% gave their reason for not calling the staff as lack of faith. These findings suggest that the community needs to be made aware of the training program and its benefits and a systematic educational plan is required for this purpose.^ieng