School Goers Research Articles

Normative Reference Value of Four Square Step Test among School-going Children

Introduction: Dynamic Balance (DB) is the ability to maintain balance while the body is moving. The Four-Square Step Test (FSST) is a reliable and valid tool to assess DB in older populations. Previous research demonstrated the normative score of FSST for the community-dwelling older population. Aim: To estimate the reference score of FSST among 8 to 15-yearolds. Materials and Methods: FSST is a test that can be used for both therapeutic and diagnostic purposes to evaluate an individual’s dynamic standing balance. A total of 90 School goers were recruited for this research. Participants had to cross the four sticks in a predetermined order. The sticks were each 90 cm long and were positioned in a cross pattern on the ground. They were instructed Shiwangi, BPT Intern UG Student, Department of Physiotherapy, Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Mullana, Ambala, Haryana, India. Sunanda Bhowmik, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiotherapy, Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Mullana, Ambala, Haryana, India. Normative Reference Value of Four Square Step Test among School-going Children Abstract ID-UG 10 not to touch any sticks when they were crossing them. The amount of time it took to complete the test was recorded. Results: The normative value of FSST was (mean±SD 11.43±1.24) Geometric mean (11.37), skewness (0.30), kurtosis (0.65), median (25, 75 IQR) 11.25 (11.25,12.07), range (8.00-15.00). Conclusion: The total time taken by the participants to finish the test was 9 to 12 seconds. Analysing these results against findings to previous research, children between the ages of 8 and 15 were found to finish the FSST faster than average adults. In clinical practice, the standard reference score may be employed to rule out abnormalities related to children’s DB.

Effect of Video-assisted Neurobics Training on Sustained Attention in Rural and Urban School Goers: A Pilot Feasibility Trial

Effect of Video-assisted Neurobics Training on Sustained Attention in Rural and Urban School Goers: A Pilot Feasibility Trial

Tourism objects and development of Armenian ethnographic excursion route in polyethnic Chernivtsi

Retrospective-chorological specificities of the appearance of Armenian ethnic element on the territory of Bukovyna and the City of Chernivtsi were disclosed. Population dynamics within the Armenian ethnic community of Chernivtsi based on the censuses held within 1774 – 2001 and said community’s participation in economic, public and political life of the city, as well as in cultural and educational activity were analyzed. Armenians for the first time appeared in Bukovyna as far back as in times of the Kiev Rus and the Principality of Galicia and Volyn as international traders. The first Armenian settlers lived in Chernivtsi beginning from the «pre-Austrian» time, and their community was always compact usually covering areas around and praying in the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross that had the Armenian St George’s Altar until they built their own cathedral. It was in 1783 that the Armenian catholic religious community for the first time appeared in Chernivtsi. The first Armenian residents of Chernivtsi were predominantly engaged in trade, or were doctors, engineers, landowners, manufacturers and highly ranked state officers. With time, the houses of the Chernivtsi Armenians concentrated in a new «Armenian block», that is, in the area of present-day Armenian Street, Jacob von Petrovich Street, Ukrainian Street and the Armenian Lane. The block had the Armenian Catholic Church built in its center in 1869-1875 to become a focus of the spiritual life of Bukovynian Armenians, and later the center was added by the parochial house and the Armenian bursa for school goers. The Register of Objects of Cultural Heritage and the Present of Armenian Community of Chernivtsi was developed and the point-based assessment of their tourism attractiveness was introduced. The quantitative relative assessment of tourism attractiveness of 26 objects of cultural heritage totally made 78 points, while the mapping of the same allowed for disclosure of specificities of their territorial disposition and development of optimal Armenian excursion route. Following the significance, spatial distribution and territorial structure, we distinguished between localized (items and centers), linear and spatial elements of the Armenian ethnographic space. The items are represented by tourism objects of aesthetic, scientific and historical value, e.g., buildings where outstanding persons either lived, studied or worked; Roman Catholic Church of Exaltation of the Holy Cross with the Armenian St George’s Altar; social maintenance establishments (former Armenian bursa); monuments (Jacob von Petrovich) and the sites of memory. The centers are tourism objects of Armenian culture represented by functioning institutions and establishments, such as Armenian Church, Sunday school, national/cultural associations. The linear elements are the city streets (Armenian Street, personalized Jacob von Petrovich Street and Karol Mikuli Street), and the spatial (area) elements are conditioned by the fact of ethnic groups’ compact settlement. The hugest concentration of the Armenian ethnic tourism objects is found in the area around the Armenian Church (13 objects possessing 33 points of total attractiveness). Keywords: Armenian ethnic community; cultural heritage; ethno-tourism objects; excursion route; city of Chernivtsi.

Journal of Scientific Temper

As the country is marching ahead for an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India)’, it is imperative that every citizen, in particular the youths, must contribute to the nation building. India has the immense potential to reap rich demographic dividends if the youths are adequately empowered and engaged by implementing appropriate, effective and timely policies. A nation witnesses an incredible economic growth when there is scope for continuous flourishing of science, technology and innovation. This unequivocally calls for enrichment in science education among the school goers. In an effort to identify and tap the bright and creative young minds in India, there are government funded several programmes for science education and promotion. An example of one such remarkable programme is ‘Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan’ launched recently by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. The pertinent question arises here that whether there is equality in getting access to the government initiatives by the youths across the length and breadth of the nation? The present article attempts to understand this particular scenario by pursuing a field study among the high school students studying in schools situated in remote areas. The article also highlighted the media interventions to be undertaken to make the initiatives for science education and promotion more accessible and attractive.

Project Mumbai: - Creating Social Transformation in Mumbai with an Innovative Solution”

Project Mumbai is a non-profit organization that has been set up by like-minded individuals who are passionate about Mumbai and everything that matters. The CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND founder of Project Mumbai Mr. Shishir Joshi emphasized: “Social Transformation through Scale”. He firmly believed that uniting citizens through a cause can do a revolution. His Mumbai building project “Hamara Station, Hamari Shaan” which he undertook in his previous role as CEO of NGO Mumbai First saw 25000 plus volunteers supported by 100 institutions in a beautification drive across 36 railway stations in Mumbai within 7 days in October 2016, a project with Mumbai first and Making a Difference Foundation (M.A.D.). Project Mumbai through its various social-related projects IS ATTEMPTING TO build the next generation of leaders who feel a sense of ownership for Mumbai in the areas of Healthcare, Safety, Security, Environment, Governance, and Transport. Through its Public –Private-People (PPP) Models, Project Mumbai is upgrading the quality of life in Mumbai for Mumbaikars. Their week-long Mumbai Plastic Recyclothon, a mega plastic donation, collection, and recycling drive involving citizen groups, corporate institutions, housing societies, and school goers consider being a mass movement. Project Mumbai is working relentlessly and silently to bring social transformation and ownership among Mumbaikars through their selfless efforts. This paper is based on primary interviews as well as secondary resources available on the Project Mumbai organization.

Behavioural and socio-ecological factors that influence access and utilisation of health services by young people living in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Implications for intervention.

Young people's health service utilisation (the number accessing a facility) has been the focus of guidelines and health systems strengthening policies. This is due to young people being at an increased health risk because of inequitable access and utilisation of health services, which is more pronounced in rural settings with limited service availability. This is a major concern as globally, youth constitute a considerable and increasing part of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive approach for the exploration of health service utilisation by young people in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We examined barriers and facilitators conceptualised by the constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, framed within a socio-ecological model. Data were collected in January to June 2017 from two sites using in-depth interviews, spiral transect walks and community mapping with young people (aged 10 to 24 years), primary care health providers, school health professionals, community stakeholders and young people's parents. Socio-ecological and behavioural factors influenced young people's intention to use services. Barriers included perceived negative attitudes of health providers and perceived poor staff competencies. Facilitators included an appreciation of receiving health education and assumed improved health. At social and community levels, normative beliefs hindered young people from utilising services as they feared stigmatisation and gossip. At a public policy level, structural elements had a disempowering effect as the physical layout of the clinics hindered utilisation, limited resources influenced staffing, and facility opening times were not convenient for school goers. We suggest that to fully appreciate the complexity of health service utilisation, it is necessary to not only consider factors and processes relevant to the individual, but also acknowledge and act upon, the disjuncture between community level cultural values, norms and national policies.

Knowledge on Health Effects and Current Practice Toward Arecanut Use Among Secondary School Children Living in Malé City, Maldives

Background: The fourth most commonly used addictive substance in the world is arecanut and is classified as a group 1 carcinogen to human. Over 600 million people are estimated to chew arecanut. It is consumed in some form or other, often with betel quid by 10%–20% of world's population. School goers lack the knowledge and practice toward arecanut use. Many high school children are not well aware about the health hazards of arecanut consumption. Most children start arecanut use at younger age. Arecanut consumption is more prevalent among boys than girls. Arecanut was introduced for majority of the school goers by either their friends or family. Most common form of arecanut used by school goers is sweetened supari. Aim: The current study was conducted to identify the knowledge on health effects, and current practice toward arecanut use among secondary school children living in Malé City, Maldives. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using precoded questionnaire was used. A total of 1350 questionnaire was distributed to the secondary school students studying at selected schools in Malé City and 804 questionnaires were returned. The total target population was 5297. The schools were selected through cluster sampling, while the students were selected via simple random sampling. The calculated sample size consists of 674 students which are equally selected from both genders. Data analyses were executed by using Excel and SPSS 21 software. Descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests were performed. Ethical approval was obtained from Villa College as well from national health research committee at ministry of health. Results: Secondary school children in Malé City have inadequate knowledge on harmful effects of arecanut use. The knowledge varies based on their gender, grade, school, and residence, but does not vary based on their age. The knowledge on harmful effects of arecanut use is more among girls, students at grade 9, students studying at Rehendhi school, and more among those who lives in both Hulhumalé and Vilimalé than those who live in Malé. The students started arecanut use mainly at age between 11-15 years. It was introduced by either friends or family members among large number of school children. Majority of participants used supari as a main form of arecanut, and Rasily supari was the favorite brand of supari among secondary school children. Boys start its use earlier, frequency, duration, and daily consumption is higher among boys than girls. Conclusion: Secondary school children have inadequate knowledge on harmful effects of arecanut use. Supari is the main form of arecanut use and most of the students initiated the habit at a younger age, which is an alarming threat to the society, hence there is an urgent need to start school based preventive programs, community awareness programs, for school children, teachers, parents, and general public at large as stopping the starting of a habit is much easier than quitting of same habit.

Education, poverty and "purity" in the context of adolescent girls' secondary school retention and dropout: A qualitative study from Karnataka, southern India.

BackgroundGender-related norms and poverty remain important structural barriers to secondary school attendance among adolescent girls in southern India. We analyse how gender norms interact with family deprivation and dynamics to result in girls dropping out of school; we identify the main facilitators of school retention and changes to gender socialisation.MethodsLongitudinal qualitative case studies with 36 girls were nested within a cluster randomized trial to evaluate the Samata intervention targeting adolescent girls in Bagalkote and Vijayapura districts in northern Karnataka. We used two rounds of in-depth interviews, conducted in 2014 at a time when respondents were in 8th standard at the age of 13 to 14 and sixteen months later. We combined thematic and narrative analyses.ResultsOur study found that poverty and socioeconomic realities at the household level strongly affect conformity with discriminatory gender practices such as restricting girls’ mobility. The value placed on education by parents clearly differentiates the regular school goers from those frequently absent and others who dropped out. With active encouragement of the girls’ educational and career aspirations, parents engendered the girl’s agency to communicate openly both at home and at school, allowing subtle changes to gender performance while resisting the pressure of social sanctions. In contrast, where educational aspirations were weak, parents invested more intensely in enforcing correct performance of gender, prioritising her well-being by aiming to secure her future in a good marriage. Among poorer families, girls’ domestic duties came at the cost of schooling with concerns about protecting her sexual purity predominating.ConclusionsIn contexts where a strong gender ideology of virginity before marriage rules, subtle shifts in harmful gender practices are possible. Interventions aiming to improve education need to target the most deprived families, focussing on trust building through open communication.

Mode choice behavior of high school goers: Evaluating logistic regression and MLP neural networks

There is a quite a handful of scientific evidence where logistic regression and multilayer perceptron neural networks (MLPs) are compared to explain mode choice behavior. Student populations, however, are understudied. Further, a model that better explains the mode choice behavior of ‘high school’ goers has not been scientifically investigated. On this backdrop, this paper endeavored to make a comparison between the efficiency and robustness of the logistic regression model and MLPs to predict and explain the mode choice behavior of high school students in Khobar city. Among the pertinent variables considered, the logistic regression model finds that (i) monthly family income, (ii) travel time to school, and (iii) parents’ education level are statistically significant to determine the mode choice to the school. Based on the most significant variables and a comparative analysis conducted between logistic regression and MLP, the latter has better strength in predicting and explaining mode choice behavior of public high school goers. This led to a reflection on the implications for transport policies.

Annoyance Judgment and Measurements of Environmental Noise: A Focus on Italian Secondary Schools.

The effects of noise on students’ health, well-being, and learning are of growing concern among both the general public and policy-makers in Europe. Several studies have highlighted the consequences of noise on children’s learning and performance at school. This study investigates the relationship between noise judgment in school goers aged 11–18 and noise measurements aimed at evaluating their exposure at school. For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered to 521 individuals in 28 classrooms in eight schools of four cities in Italy, with different environmental characteristics. Using a Likert-type scale, a selected set of responses related to noise generated an Annoyance Index (AI) score for each student and a classroom median score (MAI). From the noise data acquired, a global noise score (GNS) was assigned to each classroom. A higher AI was found in industrialized areas and among younger students. No significant differences in noise judgment were found by gender. A significant inverse correlation was described between MAI and GNS, thus the better the acoustic quality of the classrooms, the less the perceived noise and annoyance. The results show that noise perception and consequent disturbance are highly correlated with classroom acoustics, and confirm that annoyance represents the most widespread subjective response to noise.

Growth Pattern and Relation with Age at Menarche

Back ground: Body composition assessment helps to growth pattern in adolescent, for body composition measurement research measures weight, height, different kind of circumferences. Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) has been defined as a state of ‘steady’ or body energy stores. A BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 is widely used as a practical measure underweight. Methodology: This study is carried out in outpatient of sub-centre of a rural hospital of Medinipur district; some girls are school dropout and some are regular school goers, Study group girls are 10-19 years old,100 girls in each group, Anthropometry are used to take measurement of height (Anthropometry rod) weight (weighing machine), harpendent to take skinfold measurement. Results: Table 1 represents that mean height, weight, MUAC of study group is 151.02 cm (4.81), 44.56 (5.07), weight (kg) MUAC21.71 cm (2.85). Table 2 represent comparison of anthropometric value of pre-menarcheal and menarcheal girls. The Figures 1-3 represent age wise pre-menarcheal, post-menarcheal, combined status of adolescent girls, whereas the Table 3 represent age wise standard deviation and mean of height, weight and BMI. Results revealed that boys were significantly heavier than girls from age 16 onwards. Conclusion: Girls have poor knowledge on hygiene, they take bath in pond, which causes reproductive health related issues, like white discharge; they have poor concept on menstrual hygiene. To overcome all this they need counselling on their health, nutrition hygiene, how to cure reproductive tract infection.

Association of Levels of Serum Inhibin B and Follicle-stimulating Hormone with Testicular Vascularity, Volume, and Echotexture in Children with Undescended Testes.

Aims:The aim of our study was to assess the association between reproductive hormones (inhibin B [inh B], follicle-stimulating hormone [FSH]) with testicular volume, echogenicity, and blood flow (resistive index [RI]) in children with undescended testis (UDT).Settings and Design:This was a prospective study of 1-year study duration.Materials and Methods:A total of 33 patients (16 unilateral and 17 bilateral) UDTs aged 5–12 years with palpable UDT were included in the study. Morning fasting blood samples were taken for estimation of serum inh B and FSH as well as inh B/FSH ratio. Testicular ultrasound was done to compute testicular volume, testicular echogenicity, and testicular vascularity in terms of RI.Results:The mean age of patients enrolled in the study was 8.29 years for unilateral UDT and 7.97 years in bilateral UDT and it was comparable. The study groups were further subdivided into two age-wise subgroups school goers (5–8 years) and prepubertal (9–12 years). The values of inh B, FSH, and inh B/FSH ratios as well as mean testicular volume were comparable between both groups and subgroups. Overall mean testicular volume had a positive correlation with FSH, inh B, and inh B/FSH, but statistical significance was reached only for inh B (P < 0.001) in children with both unilateral and bilateral UDT. Apart from five patients with hypoechogenicity within the testis, all remaining testes were of homogenous echotexture with no instances of irregular echogenicity or tumor. Children with RI >0.6 were separately studied. The incidence of high RI (>0.6) was also comparable in unilateral or bilateral disease. These subjects had unfavorable biochemical parameters in terms of low inh B levels and high FSH levels.Conclusions:Our findings hint to the fact that palpable UDT forms a homogenous group, whether unilateral or bilateral, whereas impalpable testes may form a separate category and need further studies to substantiate this hypothesis.

Quality Education and the Situation of the Rural First Generation School Goers: A Case Study of Onda Block, Bankura

Quality Education and the Situation of the Rural First Generation School Goers: A Case Study of Onda Block, Bankura

Profile of victims of natural sexual offences in South Bangalore

Rape is a notoriously under-reported crime in India, because of its social stigma and the fact that in most of the cases, culprits are known to the victim. The examination of the survivors of alleged sexual offences is one of the most difficult tasks in Medical practice. Methodology: This study was carried out between January 2012 to June 2013 in the Department of Forensic Medicine at Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital & Research Centre, Bangalore, Karnataka. The cases registered under sections 375, 376 IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act were included in the study. Results: Total 35 victims were examined during study period. Of these, 24 (68.5%) were in the age group of 15 years to 20 years; 26 (74.2%) cases were educated up to school level. Unmarried victims were the maximum, 34 (97.1%); in 17(48.5%) cases, the incident occurred between evening & midnight, and in 14 (40%) cases, it occurred in the accused's house. Among the 35 female victims, 17 (48.6%) presented with recent tears of hymen while 11 (31.4%) had old tears of hymen. The manner of offence in majority of the rape cases, 23 (58.9%) was of the consensual type, which was followed by 10 cases (25.6%) of forcible rape. Discussion: The present study shows that younger age females who are unmarried and school goers are more vulnerable to sexual assault. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the incident took place within the house of accused or the victim and in the night. Significant number of cases had consensual sexual activity and this was the probable reason for lesser general physical trauma.

Family Dynamics and Resilience among Adolescents: Role of Mother's Working Status and Family Type

The aim of this research was to empirically understand role of family type and mother's occupation in determination of resilience among adolescent school goers. Standardized measure of resilience was administered upon 260 school adolescents from Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh. The voluntary participants belonged to age group 14–18 years (Mean Age=16.62 years). 181 respondents were from nuclear families while 79 were joint families. Major proportion (70%) of respondents had mothers who were homemakers. Multivariate ANOVA was performed to examine the effects of family type and mothers’ working statuses. Results revealed significant main effects and interaction effects of the two variables on resilience and most of its dimensions. Results revealed that adolescents whose mothers were homemakers had relatively similar resilience scores (mostly high) irrespective of their family types. Adolescents from joint families with working mothers scored higher on resilience measure. In contrast, those with working mothers but from joint families had very low resilience scores. This study therefore throws light on the kind of impact family system can have on the adversity management strategies opted by the youth. Probably, working mothers from nuclear families enjoy more autonomy and have higher self esteem both of which can have positive influence on personality development and stress coping strategies of their children. In contrast this may not be the case for adolescents from joint family system and with working mothers as the latter may have to adhere to and adjust with principles related to child rearing.

Investigating next generation's cycling ridership to promote sustainable mobility in different types of cities

The aim of this paper is to develop a mode to school choice model to quantitatively evaluate the impact of various bicycle services and facilities on adolescents' mode choice behaviour. Stated preference (SP) scenarios specifically designed for this survey were used to elicit preferences for bicycle facilities and infrastructure, such as bike-lanes and bicycle parking places, and also for the availability of safety courses for school goers. The estimated mode choice model, which explicitly considers taste heterogeneity and panel effects, was tested with data collected in different types of cities (urban, rural and insular) of two different countries Greece and Cyprus, enabling comparisons in adolescents' travel behaviour across different geographical areas. The sample consisted of 9554 adolescent who yielded 20,432 SP responses for model estimation. Our results show that the prevalent factors affecting bicycle choice differ across different types of cities. Bad weather conditions affect the most the choice of bicycle in urban areas, while the most significant variable for rural areas is the percentage of cycleway coverage in the route between home and school. The availability of bicycle parking spaces at the schoolyard and the availability of school courses regarding how to walk and cycle with safety, also increased the bicycle utility in all five areas considered. Finally, three policy scenarios were tested to investigate modal split under various cycling policies.

Street hawking among in-school adolescents in a south-western town in Nigeria: pattern, determinants and effects on school performance

Street hawking is the commonest form of child labor in Nigeria. Although street hawking is very pervasive, there is the increasing need to fully understand its pattern and effects on those involved in hawking particularly adolescents who combine schooling with hawking. In Nigeria, data on the effects of street hawking on in-school adolescents are generally scanty. Therefore, the present study was undertaken in Ife Central Local Government Area (LGA) of Osun State, Nigeria to assess the pattern, determinants of street hawking among in-school adolescents and its effect on school performance. A cross-sectional study of 435 adolescents (aged 10-19) attending public secondary schools was done. Data were collected using facilitated self-administered questionnaires alongside a review of class records. Appropriate statistical analysis including multiple regression was done. Results showed mean age of respondents to be 14.6±2.1 years with prevalence of street hawking at 37.2%. Early adolescents (10-13 years) were more likely to engage in street hawking compared to their counterparts in late adolescence (aged 17-19). Female adolescents and students of trading mothers were significantly more likely to engage in street hawking. Respondents engaged in street hawking were significantly more likely to have failed the last academic term examination. The findings from this study will be useful for stakeholders as they develop policies and programmes to address the challenge of street hawking among adolescent school goers.

Elementary school enrolment and its determinants among children with cerebral palsy in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala, India

Context:There is enough documented evidence to prove the benefits of early and appropriate initiation of education among children with cerebral palsy (CP).Aim:To find out the proportion of children with CP who are enrolled for some kind of formal education and to study the determinants of the same.Setting and Design:This cross sectional study was done among children, attending the special clinics at government medical college, Thiruvananthapuram.Materials and Methods:Children between 3 and 12 years of age diagnosed with CP were subjects for the study.Statistical Analysis Used:Enrollment for any form of formal education was the major outcome variable. The factors associated with initiation of formal education were tested using Chi-square test or Fischer's exact test. Independent association of each factor was evaluated through binary logistic Regression analysis.Results and Conclusions:The mean (SD) age of the children (n = 86) was 5.7 (2.3) years with forty-six (53.5%) of them being girls. Diplegia was the commonest limb abnormality found. Fifty-two (60.5%) children were undergoing some kind of schooling. Those children who were less dependent physically and those who had achieved better language development were regular school goers. After binary logistic regression the ability of a child to speak in sentences (P = 0.008) and ambulatory level of the child (P = 0.019) were factors which favored, whereas delay in attaining the adaptive developmental milestone of transferring objects from one hand to another (P = 0.014) was found to be detrimental for school enrollment.

PRO-HEALTH BEHAVIOURS AND BELIEF IN ONESELF AMONG 13-15-YEAR OLD TEENAGERS LIVING IN BIALA PODLASKA

The aim of the research was to get information about pro-health behaviours and belief in oneself among 13-15-year old teenagers living in Biala Podlaska. The research included 229 pupils from three Grammar Schools (115 girls and 114 boys). The range of respondents’ age varied from 13 to 15 years old. The research tool was two anonymous questionnaires. The first questionnaire contained questions concerning teenagers’ belief in themselves and the efficacy of their activities (10 statements). The second questionnaire referred to the pro-health behaviours and it consisted of 14 situations described in the form of multiple choice questions. It was shown that Grammar School goers higly evaluated their own sense of efficacy (31,2 points). Girls (30,39 points) in comparison to boys (32,05) evaluated their efficacy lower by 1,66 points. Grammar School goers in 85,7% of cases choose healthy behaviours and girls are the group which reach for such behaviours more often.

Single-stage surgery for Blepharophimosis syndrome

Dear Editor, At the outset I thank the reader for his comments on the Original article ‘single stage surgery for Blepharophimosis syndrome’ and appreciate the interest and valuable comments. The authors found that the single-stage procedure is a useful procedure and has several advantages over the multistage procedure such as need for only one surgical option, decreased hospitalization and recovery time, more cost-effective, and potentially less anxiety for patients. Moreover, single-stage surgery seems to be a better option when follow-up losses are a factor worth mentioning in the case of multistage surgery for Blepharophimosis syndrome (BPS).[1] In the present study all patients were above 6 years of age, having all four classical signs of BPS. As fascia lata is well developed after 4 years of age, the authors had used it as a sling material, as till date, fascia lata is the best available sling material and scores much above silicon rod. Moreover, to treat horizontal phimosis, lateral canthoplasty was done in addition to medial canthal surgery as all these patients had both medial and lateral canthal anomalies. Lateral canthoplasty is a useful method to restore eyelid function in horizontal phimosis and success of the procedure depends on proper knowledge and analysis of peri-orbital anatomy as it relates to the specific indication for lateral canthoplasty. It not only gives good functional correction, but also aesthetic improvement. It is a recommended surgical technique as has also been reported by Wu et al.[2] However, medial canthopexy is done in mild cases of palpebral phimosis and not suitable in patients with wide telecanthus and prominent anterior lacrimal crest requiring removal of excess bony tissue with bone punch. It is a known fact visual filed analysis is very difficult in children. In the present study all patients were school goers, above 6 years of age, and cooperated well with the kinetic visual field analysis with a Humphrey Visual Field Analyzer. Kinetic study of the tested eye was done initially with the eye at rest and then repeated with the lid elevated by taping it to demonstrate potential correction by the proposed ptosis corrective surgical procedure. Patients with BPS seen by the authors 7 years prior to the study period were treated by the conventional multistage procedure. At that time the authors experienced a very high percentage of follow-up losses following the first surgical procedure and refusal for the next stage of surgery either due to emotional factors or refusal to multiple exposures to general anesthesia and associated systemic involvement, difficult airway, and rarely with congenital heart disease. This made the authors aware and as such the single-stage surgical technique has been done to address all the shortcomings of the multistage surgical procedure. The authors conclude that the single-stage surgical procedure for BPS offers good and stable cosmetic correction and functional results with shortened treatment time.[1]