Slums Of Delhi Research Articles

An exploratory study to understand water, sanitation, and hygiene practices and their perceived impact on health status amongst women of reproductive age residing in an urban slum of New Delhi, India

Background: Disadvantaged urban slums in India are prone to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) inadequacies. Due to biological necessities and sociocultural context of India, women remain one of the most vulnerable groups prone to the negative consequences of WASH inadequacies. This study explored the WASH practices among women residing closer to the community-managed toilet (CMT) in the slum locality of South-West Delhi to determine critical linkages to WASH inadequacies that can be used to improve accessibility, usage, and care provided by the CMT. Objectives of the study were to understand the WASH practices and the perceived physical and psychosocial impact on women residing closer to the CMT.Methods: Qualitative study using thematic content analysis. Fee-list interviews and FGD were conducted to collect data to explore the perceived health effects of WASH practices among the women of the community.Results: We found that WASH practices are defined by concerns across multiple dimensions and can lead to adoption of harmful coping strategies. An interplay of sociocultural, infrastructural and household and community level factors acts as mediating factors to limit the usage of WASH facilities which may seemingly look available and accessible to women in disadvantaged urban locations.Conclusions: Access to improved WASH facilities does not imply usage and women are disproportionately burdened by WASH inadequacy. Practices such as reduced eating at night to avoid open defecation and fear of violence threaten women’s physical and psychosocial health and well-being. Priority public health attention should be given to the linkages between women’s health and inadequate WASH practices.

Action needed for child obesity in India

Inside an anganwadi, a government-run childcare centre, in a slum in South Delhi, several young children slurp down tiny sachets of sugary beverages as they wait for a freshly cooked meal. Anganwadi worker Meenakshi Singh, who recently counselled the parents of an overweight 3-year-old, says it took her months to make them understand the health risks of childhood obesity.

Integrating poverty alleviation and environmental protection efforts: A socio-ecological perspective on menstrual health management

Apt menstrual health management is crucial to the livelihood of low-income, bottom of the pyramid (BOP) women as well as to environmental conservation. However, knowledge is still scant about the factors underpinning women's preferences towards menstrual products, and whether and how the environmental impact of different solutions matter to women's choices. We address this gap by proposing a socio-ecological perspective to understand whether a product's low environmental impact enhances low-income women's uptake of sanitary napkins, thereby supporting poverty alleviation objectives but also efforts geared towards environmental protection. Results from a discrete-choice experiment involving 164 women (n = 1148) in two Indian slums in Delhi and Ahmedabad show that sanitary products' biodegradability is the most important attribute affecting women's preferences towards menstrual hygiene management solutions, which also significantly interacts with women's socio-economic and socio-cultural characteristics. Our findings highlight the potential for business models to find positive synergies between environmental protection and poverty alleviation goals and to situate solutions within the larger socio-ecological context of receiving communities.

Nutritional Status of Children Among the Age Group of 3-5-Year-Old in the Urban Slums of Delhi

Background - In India, 14% of the population is undernourished, according to 'The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2020 report. Further, the Covid-19 situation has increased the risk of a child’s nutrition. With the disruption of Anganwadi services and the Mid-Day Meal (MDM)service delivery system, a large number of children don’t have access to regular, nutritious meals. The overburdening of health systems has impaired service delivery of captious health and nutrition interventions for children. Subsequently, the economic impact of the pandemic has reduced the frequency and quality of meals consumed by households. Methodology- A cross-sectional study is conducted in the slums of the southern region of Delhi involving the children of the age group of 3-5-year-old. Multistage random sampling is done where sampling size is calculated according to the prevalence of malnutrition of 20%. Calculated by formula 4PQ/L2 P=prevalence of malnutrition (taking like 20%), Q= 100-P, L= Allowable error (5%)=4*20*80/5*5=256 children. Inclusion criteria for the children are those who are within the age group of 3-5-year-old and are present at the time of the household visit and are not seriously ill. Exclusion criteria for the children are those who are below 3 years of age and the children with chronic morbidity and suffering from a serious illness. Those families not giving consent. Children in the age group of more than 5 years. Children having cerebral palsy, congenital malformation, HIV infection or any other excluded. Result - Malnutrition is highly prevalent in the study population of the urban slums of Delhi. In the form of both acute and chronic malnutrition. Out of 256 children, 34 per cent of the children are severely underweight, 16 percentage of the children are severely stunted and 24.6 percentage of the children are severely acutely malnourished. 21.1 percentage of the children come in the category of moderately underweight,28.1 percentage of the children comes in the category of stunted,30.5 percentage of the children comes in the category of moderately acute malnourished. Keywords: Malnutrition, Nutritional status of children, urban slums of Delhi

Menstrual Hygiene Management : A Study of Perception, Problem, and Practices Among Urban Slums of Delhi

Menstruation starts a new phase in every woman’s life and indicates the initiation of the reproductive period. However, this milestone becomes distinctly painful for women with a lack of awareness and availability of hygienic menstrual products. At many places, the taboo attached to menstruation further adds to this suffering. This scenario is common in the slum communities of developing countries. This study was conducted in the context of urban slums of Delhi, with an aim to understand and assess women’s problems, perceptions, and practices of menstrual hygiene management. It also studied the practices around different absorbents (cloth and pad) and compared the practices around absorbents amongst different user groups (cloth users, pad users, and both). For the study, 1,475 women from 14 urban slums of Delhi were surveyed. The findings of the study indicated the lack of awareness amongst the women regarding menstruation & hygiene practices. Further, affordability, availability, and comfort came out as the key factors influencing the choice of studied absorbents, with affordability being the most important factor. Based on the study’s findings, significant implications for public policymakers and marketers were drawn.

Promoting Family Integrated Early Childhood Development During the First 1000 Days in Urban Slums of Delhi: Feasibility and Early Implementation Experience

The first 1000 days are critical for human development. Children residing in urban slums are at higher risk of suboptimal development. This article reports the feasibility and early implementation experiences of child stimulation directed counselling integrated with nutrition and health services by community functionaries in Delhi slums. This implementation research with cohort study design has two groups. The intervention group includes: pregnant women; infants and children in second year. The comparison group (without intervention) includes: recently delivered women, children aged 13–25 months. The feedback from the community functionaries and parents of children were also obtained. 44 videos with Hindi voiceover, demonstration of tools/toys/props, and 9 calendars depicting age-appropriate child stimulation activities were prepared and packaged with health and nutrition services for delivery by the frontline functionaries. These functionaries are coaching the families on child stimulation using these audio-visual messages using Tablets and demonstration tools/toys/props twice every three months. Monitoring and feedback data on service delivery are being collected. The data from the intervention cohort shall be compared with that from the comparison group to document the impact. From 63 anganwadi centres, 130 pregnant women, 142 infants and 136 children have been recruited for the intervention. 82.9% of the families received the intervention within 2 weeks and average time taken was 15 minutes. The initial feedback from the community functionaries and parents are very encouraging. The integrated child development package is acceptable and feasible for implementation through community functionaries and possible integration into the existing programs at scale.Electronic Supplementary MaterialSupplementary material is available for this article at 10.1007/s13312-021-2353-9 and is accessible for authorized users.

Diagnostic measures for severe acute malnutrition in Indian infants under 6\u2009months of age: a secondary data analysis

BackgroundWeight for length z-score (WLZ) < − 3 is currently used to define severe acute malnutrition (SAM) among infants. However, this approach has important limitations for infants younger than 6 months of age as WLZ cannot be calculated using WHO growth standards if infant length is < 45 cm. Moreover, length for age z-score (LAZ) and weight for length z-score (WLZ) are least reliable measures, with high chances of variation, and less chances of detecting undernutrition in under 6 months infants. The objective of the current analysis was to compare WLZ with WAZ and LAZ in a cohort of Indian infants in predicting the deaths between 6 weeks and 6 months of age.MethodsThe data was from an individually randomized trial conducted in slums of Delhi, India in which infants’ weight and length were measured at 6 weeks of age (at the time of the first immunization visit). Vital status of the infants was documented from 6 weeks to 6 months of age. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated for WAZ < -3, WLZ < -3, and LAZ < -3 for deaths between 6 weeks and 6 months of age. The receiver operating characteristics curve was calculated for each of the above anthropometric indicators.ResultsFor deaths occurring between 6 weeks to 6 months of age, the specificity ranged between 85.9–95.9% for all three anthropometric indicators. However, the sensitivity was considerably higher for WAZ; it was 64.6% for WAZ < -3, 39.1% for LAZ < -3, and 25.0% for WLZ < -3. WAZ < -3 had higher area under curve (0.75; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.82) and hence, better discriminated deaths between 6 weeks and 6 months of age than WLZ < -3. The adjusted relative risk (RR 10.6, 95% CI 5.9, 18.9) and the population attributable fraction (PAF 57.9, 95% CI 38.8, 71.0%) of mortality was highest for WAZ < -3.ConclusionsWe found WAZ < -3 at 6 weeks of age to be a better predictor of death in the 6 weeks to 6 months of life in comparison to WLZ < -3 and LAZ < -3 and propose that it should be considered to diagnose SAM in this age group.

Problems of Education in Slums of Delhi

ABSTRACT Education has been considered as one of the primary goals of the ‘Millennium Development Goals’. In India, one is provided free and compulsory primary education, which helps in making it a literate nation. Primary schooling is the key to success for each developing country and covers the age category of 6-14 years. In India, this education is made free and mandatory to reach one hundred percent literacy. In Delhi, the capital of India, slums are usually located close to the railway paths and market locations. The children living in such regions suffer from several issues hampering their education as well as other comparative activities. Delhi being a metropolitan city is a huge source of attraction for people. Children of slums face many problems affecting their studies. The current study aims to find out the challenges faced by slum children in attaining education with the main focus on primary education.

Social Accountability and Minority Status: Contributions to Public Goods by Hindus and Muslims in Delhi Slums

Social Accountability and Minority Status: Contributions to Public Goods by Hindus and Muslims in Delhi Slums

Assessment of frailty and outcome of an ethnogeriatric population in periurban slums of Delhi, India - An interventional strategy in a primary health care setting.

Introduction:The burden of frailty and aging will have a profound impact on the economy along with the deteriorating clinical condition of the olds.Aim:This study aim was to assess frailty of an ethnogeriatric cohort and associate it with domains of quality of life in Delhi along with a follow-up outcome assessment.Method:Edmonton frail scale on an ethnogeriatric cohort of 200 individuals in periurban slums of Delhi was used and associated with quality of life, calculated by the WHO-BREF –QOL questionnaire. An interventional strategy for healthy aging was adopted, and a follow-up outcome assessment was done to look out for mortality or morbidity.Result:There were 37% frail with a mean score of 60 and 25% prefrails beyond 60 years with a significant increase in frailty with age. Females, single, working, and illiterate elderly were frailer as compared to their counterparts. Social domain followed by psychological domain of the QOL had least scores in the frail elderly. Olds, away from their place of origin were 25 times more likely to be frail and had lesser family integration, assessed by regression analysis. Nearly 6% died, with 21% of hospital readmissions after a 6-month follow-up.Discussion:An earlier start of assessment would give us more time to react and respond and be pro-active for healthy aging besides taking into consideration the diverse ethnography in our country.Conclusion:Cross-cultural variations need the physicians to address the health care disparities and language barriers so as to make interventions more convenient.

Factors shaping decisions to utilize maternal health services among the urban poor of south Delhi: A longitudinal case study

Ending preventable maternal mortality remains one of the most critical challenges despite significant progress over past decades. Maternal mortality remains high and the burden of death is disproportionately higher among the marginalized population. Contrary to the view that those residing in urban areas have better access to quality health services, the health outcomes of the urban poor are not better than rural communities. Data on urban poor are concealed within urban averages, and few studies provide disaggregated data on spatial dimensions of population in urban areas. The study was conducted to understand variations and factors responsible for decisions to seek healthcare services for maternal healthcare. The study was conducted using qualitative case study design and qualitative data were collected from fifty pregnant women enrolled from two slums of south Delhi after informed consent. The slums were revisited twice after a gap of two/three years to understand changes in maternal health seeking behaviour of the communities. Data were analyzed using grounded theory methodology. The maternal health seeking behaviour among urban poor is determined by structural inequalities, predisposing factors of individuals including age, income, education, and parity. Other factors that had a bearing on their decision to seek care included legal status of the slums, and its inhabitants. Incremental changes in health seeking behaviour overtime was observed due to government policies/programs implemented to benefit the poor. It is essential to build a sensitive and responsive health system that is acceptable to the most marginalized to enhance access to health services.Understanding factors contributing to urban poor seek maternal health care services is necessary to build a sensitive and responsible heath system that is acceptable to the most marginalized and will ensure its use.

Barriers in Utilization of Reproductive and Child Health Services in Slums of Delhi, India: an Observational Study

Barriers in Utilization of Reproductive and Child Health Services in Slums of Delhi, India: an Observational Study

Emotional Behaviour of the Child Labour

Emotional issues among child labour never received much attention as compared to physical aspects. A study was conducted in Delhi amongst the child labour and school-going children of the same socio-economic background, in this case the slums of Delhi (India) to study the behavior patterns of the children. Children within age group of 7-14 years were selected between school going and child labour category. A sample size was drawn. Five hundred children from each group were selected (n=1000) using probability proportionate sampling method across different slums. One hundred children (both 50 school-going and 50 child labour) from each slum were selected. Purposive convenience sampling technique was used to select the children in a particular slum. Strength and difficulty questionnaire (SDQ) devised by Robert Goodman was used as a tool. The children working as child labour in Delhi slums are found to be more prone to face emotional difficulties in behavioural aspects than the school-going children from the same socio-economic indicators.

Formal vs informal demand for credit by women in urban India: a comparative study in slums of Delhi and Mumbai

PurposeOver the period, the role of finance has emerged significant in the socio-economic development of the women. There are two major types of finances, i.e. formal and informal ones. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate first the determinants of the demand for credit and then the demand for these credit sources by women especially in urban slums.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a primary survey was conducted with the help of a structured questionnaire in slums of two major urban cities in India, i.e. Delhi and Mumbai. In total, 450 individuals were interviewed in each city.FindingsThis paper presents a range of significant socio-economic factors affecting the demand for credit and source of credit by women borrower in Delhi and Mumbai. Despite, the greater emphasis by the government to increase the formal credit utilization, the informal credit is still preferred.Practical implicationsThe outcomes of the study are expectedly useful to various policymakers and banks in encouraging women to opt more for the formal credit. The government can follow the research outcomes to scale up the programmes and schemes targeted for women empowerment in urban slums.Originality/valueThe study is unique of its kind in doing a comparative analysis in slums of two differently located urban cities with large slum population.

Assessment of knowledge and practice towards tobacco and alcohol consumption among male adolescents in urban slums of Delhi

Tobacco and alcohol consumption has become a serious public health problem. Evidences show that both alcohol and tobacco consumption can cause substantial health related morbidity and mortality among adolescents.The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), a cross-sectional survey conducted among school students, aged 13–15 years, highlighted that the overall prevalence of current tobacco users in India was (14.6%) in the year 2009. The consumption of tobacco and alcohol among adolescents in India is increasing dramatically. Hence, a study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge and practice about alcohol and tobacco consumption among male adolescents. The objective of the study was to assess the level of knowledge and practice regarding tobacco and alcohol consumption among the male adolescents living in urban slum of Delhi. A cross sectional study was carried out among 100 male adolescents from urban slums of Delhi. Data was collected using semi-structured, self-administered interview schedule. The collected data was entered using Microsoft Excel 2007 and was analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics 20. Chi-square test was applied and level of significance was kept at P value of &amp;#60;0.05. The study period was from 11 June to 31 July. The knowledge level among adolescents regarding tobacco and alcohol and its harmful effects found satisfactory. Almost all the participants had knowledge regarding different forms of tobacco and diseases caused by tobacco intake in various forms and alcohol consumption. In spite of having sound knowledge of harmful effect of tobacco and alcohol, high percentage was using them. Only (14.0%) of study participants never consumed any kind of tobacco and alcohol.In our study we revealed that mere knowledge regarding tobacco intake and alcohol consumption is not important. Participants of the study having adequate knowledge didn't practice the same. The implementation of strict rules regarding prevention from tobacco and alcohol is needed.

Encouragement at the HEART of Education Innovation

As the clock strikes 1:30 p.m., young girls in the age group of 8-18 years start trickling into a modest, three-storied building deep inside the slums of West New Delhi, India. While most of them a...

Adolescent Boys Workshops: Creating Awareness on Various Boys Issues in a Slum and Resettlement Colony in Delhi

Background: Adolescence is the period of growing-up, this phase is characterized by marked and rapid changes: physical, psychological, sexual, socio-economical. There are many workshops and training sessions held for adolescent girls, while the boys in this age group are overlooked. The present study focuses on a series of workshops that were held exclusively for adolescent boys in an urban resettlement colony in Delhi. Method: This retrospective study was conducted from 15th February 2020 to 15th May 2020, in a slum community of Delhi, for 131 adolescent boys, who had attended Adolescent Boys Workshops from February to August 2019. The study was aimed to find out the increase in the awareness and knowledge of adolescent boys who attended these workshops, on various adolescence related topics. Statistical analysis was done in order to obtain mean, median and mode of the test scores. The student T test was applied to find the statistically significant p value. A p-value &lt;0.05 was taken as significant. Result: There was increase in the mean knowledge score from 5.3 to 7.0; t-5.36748, p-value &lt; .00001 in pre and post-tests. 85.5% of the boys had access to mobile phones. It was found that 93 (70.9%) of the participants were underweight. Thirty four (25.9%) were anaemic. Conclusion: The present study has shown that workshops through effective module for adolescent boys are helpful in creating awareness amongst them. Therefore there is a need to address more and more adolescent boys with such kind of workshops.

ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE TOWARDS ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETY AMONG MALE ADOLESCENTS IN URBAN SLUMS OF DELHI

Background: Globally, road traffic injuries are leading cause of death among the adolescents. Sustainable development goal 3.6 suggests reducing deaths and injuries due to road traffic accidents. The risk of vehicular accidents increases further for the adolescents when they drink and drive. Hence it is pertinent to assess the knowledge and practice regarding road traffic safety, alcohol consumption practices among male adolescents of urban slums of Delhi. The main objective of the study was to assess the level of knowledge and practice regarding road traffic safety, among the male adolescents.&#x0D; Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out among 100 male adolescents from urban slums of Delhi. Data was collected using semi-structured, self-administered interview schedule. The collected data was entered using Microsoft Excel 2007 and was analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics 20. Chi-square test was applied and level of significance was kept at p-value of &lt;0.05. The study period was from 11th June to 31st July. &#x0D; Results: Among the study subjects, 44.0% had the adequate knowledge regarding road traffic safety. Among all the respondents who knew driving 92.9% participants drive vehicles without license including both juvenile and &gt;18 years of age. There was no significant relationship found between knowledge regarding road traffic safety and practice. There was good knowledge found regarding harmful effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption among the participants.&#x0D; Conclusions: In the study, it was revealed that mere knowledge regarding road traffic safety important however; there was large gap between knowledge and practice. The implementation of road traffic rules is needed and mass media should be strengthened to follow road traffic rules by adolescents.&#x0D;

Gendered Well-Being: Cross-Sectional Evidence from Poor Urban Households in India

This paper is an analysis of the subjective well-being of women relative to men in low-income urban households in India. Education and employment are pathways to greater financial well-being which is presumably of great salience to poor populations. However, either or both of these may increase aspirations. The social norms that restrict the autonomy of women may mute the impact of education and employment in a way that does not happen to men. To address this hypothesis, the paper uses primary data from a survey of over 1000 respondents across slums in Delhi. The paper finds that education and employment does reduce the well-being of women relative to men. We show that these gender varying correlations are robust to omitted variables bias.

Utilization Pattern of Selected RCH Services among Women in Slums of Delhi, India: An Observational Study

Utilization Pattern of Selected RCH Services among Women in Slums of Delhi, India: An Observational Study