Perceived stress and eating behavior among professional and nonprofessional undergraduate students in Udupi District, Karnataka.

BACKGROUND: Stress is an unavoidable part of our life. Certain amount of stress is needed for our survival. Stress is one of the factors, which affects the health and eating habits of a person. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to compare the perceived stress among professional and nonprofessional undergraduate students and to find out the relationship between eating behavior and perceived stress of undergraduate students. METHODS: A comparative descriptive study was conducted from November 2017 to April 2018, among 400 undergraduate students from selected professional and nonprofessional colleges in Udupi District, Karnataka. Students were recruited using proportionate sampling technique. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire after obtaining informed consent of the study participants. RESULTS: Statistically significant difference was found in perceived stress of professional and nonprofessional students (Z = -2.397, P = 0.017). There was a weak positive correlation between perceived stress and uncontrolled eating of professional students (ρ= 0.162, P = 0.022) and nonprofessional students (ρ= 0.183, P = 0.009). There was no association found between perceived stress and selected demographic variables such as age, gender, study course, year of study, type of family, and occupation of parents (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Perceived stress of professional students is more compared to nonprofessional students. Uncontrolled eating behavior is influenced by increase in stress, and perceived stress is independent of demographic variables.

Factors associated with dietary and exercise compliance among elderly with chronic conditions of hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus residing in rural areas of coastal Karnataka: A community-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Compliance with diet, exercise regimen, and medication is vital to maintain an acceptable range of blood pressure and glycemic level among elderly with hypertension and diabetes mellitus. However, these are considered to be more challenging tasks among elderly. The aim of this study is to identify dietary and exercise compliance among elderly with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus and to find its influencing factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The community-based survey was done in rural areas of five randomly selected clusters of primary health centers (PHC) using PPS sampling technique. After ethical clearance, a total of 360 consented participants residing in selected clusters were interviewed using pre-designed rating scale and questionnaire on dietary and exercise compliance, respectively. In this study, compliance refers to practicing prescribed diet and exercise regimen regularly by the elderly with HTN and T2DM. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. RESULTS: Eighty percent (n = 287) of study participants had moderate adherence to diet and only, 37.8% (n = 136) of them practice physical exercise. A Chi-square test report confirmed that there is a significant association (P < 0.05) between dietary compliance and level of education, occupation, family income, procurement of insurance, poor memory, multiple functional impairments, duration of hypertensive, and diabetes illness. Exercise compliance is influenced by factors such as gender, level of education, family income, and procurement of insurance (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Adherence to diet and exercise among elderly with chronic conditions are influenced by various socio-demographic or environmental, poor health or physiological and cognition or psychological factors.

Toxic and sublethal effects of carbaryl on a freshwater catfish, Mystus vittatus (Bloch).

The effects of carbaryl (1-naphthalenyl methylcarbamate), commonly used in agricultural operations, have been studied with reference to survival, behavior, food intake, growth, and conversion efficiency of the catfish Mystus vittatus. At a concentration of 32.5 ppm, carbaryl caused 100% mortality within 24 hr; the 72 hr LC50 was 17.5 ppm. At concentrations of 12.5 ppm and below, it caused no mortalities within 72 hr. But such sublethal concentrations accelerated the swimming activity and increased the frequency of opercular beats. The latter response was dose-dependent. These behavioral changes were the immediate response to the toxicant and were indicators of possible stress. A 27-day exposure to sublethal concentrations of carbaryl led to a decrease in feeding rate and growth rate. The latter decreased from 10.15 mg/g/day (freshwater) to 2.84 mg/g/day (12.5 ppm). The reduced growth and conversion efficiency may be due to the expenditure of more energy for the purpose of maintenance. Therefore, the insecticide is considered to be a metabolic stressor.