Urban Area Of West Bengal Research Articles

A Review of Environmental Conditions between Planned and Unplanned Urbanization with Special Emphasis on Kalyani and Ranaghat Urban Areas

Urban settlements in India are generally classified as planned or unplanned as opposed to planned or unplanned urban areas due to land use and taking into account various factors including physical social and economic considerations and land use patterns. Rapid urban growth in India, mostly in an unplanned fashion, is currently a major problem. Urban growth occurs through replacement of vegetation, agricultural areas, wetlands, etc. This results in an unprecedented increase in heat, which dominates the microclimate of urban areas and creates an environmental crisis. Geospatial technology plays a unique role in planned and unplanned urban areas of West Bengal by monitoring spatio-temporal changes in urban heat by estimating land surface temperature and analyzing built-in indices of vegetation cover. It can be classified as NDVI and NDBI suggests that urban heat is controlled by surface character which is analyzed for proper planning for sustainability of urban areas

Turning Waste into Means: Human Hair Business in a West Bengal Village

The present study is a part of an ongoing research conducted on human hair business at a rural-level entrepreneurship run by the people living in Lohabarh village under Bhagwanpur-1 Block in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. This business is also found in many other villages of this administrative block. It deals with the fallen hair tangles which serve as the main raw materials collected from different rural and urban areas of West Bengal. The products like hair wigs or hair extensions are sold in national and international markets through local and foreign traders or through online platforms. Therefore, a large network of business organizations is involved in the whole process. The study aims to know the process of turning the waste into reusable product along with the exploration of the nature of business organization and to understand the networks connected to international market from such a rural-level entrepreneurship so that the local and global interaction is realized in this context. The study reveals how people do this work at the village level and how it is circulated outside the village. It has enquired about the people involved and the extent of dividends contributing to their economic prosperity. It is revealed that a group of economically backward people had an occupational shift to this work, and it helped them to uplift their economic conditions considerably.

Cognitive reserve and other determinants of cognitive function in older adults: Insights from a community-based cross-sectional study.

India will be the home of 323 million elderly persons by 2050. This means a surge in the dependent population primarily due to age-related cognitive decline. Evidence suggests that life course factors may have a modulatory role on cognitive function. The present study explores such potential influence by investigating the effect of cognitive reserve (a latent construct using education and occupation) and physical, psychological, and social determinants on cognitive function in community dwelling elderly. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in urban areas of West Bengal (India) among elderly aged ≥60 years. Data was collected by personal interviews for socio-demographic and medical profile. Cognitive function was assessed using Bangla Adaptation of Mini-Mental State Examination (BAMSE). Educational level and occupational complexity were used as proxy indicators for calculating cognitive reserve. Of the 370 elderlies interviewed (mean age = 68.9 years), cognitive function was abnormal in 13.5%. The cognitive function had a significant inverse relationship with depression symptoms, loneliness, hypertension, anemia, and basic activities of daily living. There was a significant difference in the cognitive reserve of the elderly with normal and abnormal cognitive function (mean 33.7 and 26.8, respectively). In the presence of covariates like sleep quality, depression, hypertension, and hemoglobin levels, the effect of age on cognitive function had a significant mediation influence of cognitive reserve - total effect = -0.2349; 95% CI = (-0.2972 to -0.1725) and direct effect = -0.2583; 95% CI = (-0.3172 to -0.1994). The quantum of effect of the age on cognitive function decreases with good cognitive reserve as a cognitive reserve has a significant mediation effect on the relationship between age and cognitive function.

Reconnecting humans with nature: a nature‐based participatory approach for the enhancement of biodiversity knowledge in urban area of West Bengal, India

Reconnecting humans with nature: a nature‐based participatory approach for the enhancement of biodiversity knowledge in urban area of West Bengal, India

Assessing Urban Flood Hazard Vulnerability Using Multi-Criteria Decision Making and Geospatial Techniques in Nabadwip Municipality, West Bengal in India

The flood hazard risks and vulnerability in the urban areas alongside major rivers of India have been gradually increasing due to extreme climatic events. The present study is intended to assess flood hazard vulnerability and potential risk areas and aims to ascertain the management strategies in Nabadwip Municipality, a statutory urban area of West Bengal. The multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) of selected criteria and geospatial techniques have been employed to determine the urban flood vulnerability in the study area. The study has been conducted using secondary datasets including relevant remotely sensed data and participant observation. The potential flood-affected zones have been determined using the normalized difference flood index (NDFI) and flood vulnerability index (FVI). The analysis of the standardized precipitation index (SPI) of 20 years of monthly precipitation shows the variability of seasonal rainfall distribution in the study area. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the composite Ibrahim index of socio-economic development accents that the urban development of the study area was uneven. The municipal wards situated in the central and northeastern portions of Nabadwip Municipality were extremely vulnerable, whereas the western and southwestern wards were less vulnerable. It is also revealed from the strengths–weaknesses–opportunities–challenges (SWOC) of the principal management strategies of the flood situation analysis that the unplanned sewerage system is one of the most effective weaknesses in the area. All-embracing and integrative flood management strategies need to be implemented in the study area considering the intra-regional vulnerability and development for the resilient and sustainable development of the study area.

Intra-cluster correlations in socio-demographic variables and their implications: An analysis based on large-scale surveys in India

Individuals who share similar socio-economic and cultural characteristics also share similar health outcomes. Consequently, they have a propensity to cluster together, which results in positive intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) in their socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics. In this study, using data from four rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), we estimated the ICC for selected socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics in rural and urban areas of six states namely Assam, Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics included religion & caste of the household head, use of contraception & prevalence of anaemia among currently married women and coverage of full immunization services among children aged 12-23 months. ICC was computed at the level ofPrimary Sampling Units (PSUs), that is, villages in rural areas and census enumeration blocks in urban areas. Our research highlights high clustering in terms of religion and caste within PSUs in India. In NFHS-4, the ICCs for religion ranged from the lowest of 0.19 in rural areas of Kerala to the highest of 0.67 in urban areas of West Bengal. For the caste of the household head, the ICCs ranged from the lowest of 0.12 in the urban areas of Punjab to the highest of 0.46 in the rural areas of Assam. In most of the states selected for the study, the values of ICC were higher for the use of family planning methods than for full immunization. The value of ICC for use of contraception was highest for rural areas of Assam (0.15) followed by rural areas of Gujarat (0.13). A higher value of ICC has considerable implications for determining an effective sample size for large-scale surveys. Our findings agree with the fact that for a given cluster size, the higher the value of ICC, the higher is the loss in precision of the estimate. Knowing and taking into account ICCs can be extremely helpful in determining an effective sample size when designing a large-scale demographic and health survey to arrive at estimates of parameters with the desired precision.

Prevalence of Anemia Among Elderly Population Residing in an Urban Area of West Bengal: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Analytical Study.

India is experiencing a rapid increase in the elderly population (aged 60 years and above) compared to the last decade. The multifactorial condition of anemia grossly influences the health-related quality of life and mortality in this age group. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among older adults residing in an urban area of West Bengal, India. The community-based cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in Kalyani Municipality, West Bengal, from March to April 2021. A simple random sampling technique was adopted to select study participants. Hemoglobin (Hb) was measured using a digital hemoglobinometer (HemoCue301), and data were collected using EpiCollect5 software. The mean (SD) age of 457 participants was 68.9 (7.3) years with 52.1% (n = 238) being males, 71.9% (n = 329) graduates, and 64.3% (n = 294) currently married. The prevalence of anemia was 65% (95% CI: 60.4-69.3). The prevalence of mild (Hb 11-11.9 gm/dL in females and 11-12.9 gm/dL in males), moderate (Hb 8-10.9 gm/dL), and severe anemia (Hb <8 gm/dL) was 41.6%, 22.8% and 0.7%, respectively. Anemia was significantly associated with age group (P < 0.01) and sex (P < 0.01), with the highest prevalence in the 80 years and above age category (85.2%) and in females (71.2%). The prevalence of anemia is very high in older adults. There is an urgent need to include the elderly age group in the existing health programme for anemia, i.e., Anemia Mukt Bharat.

Comparative Assessment of two behavioural risk factors (Physical Inactivity and Unhealthy Diet) among obese Bengali women in rural and urban areas of West Bengal, India

This study was aimed to assess dietary pattern and unhealthy dietary factors and to determine the prevalence ofphysical inactivity among obese Bengali women in rural and urban areas of West Bengal. This study was conducted inHooghly district of West Bengal, India and 150 female subjects of 20-50 years age group were recruited for the studyconsidering inclusion and exclusion criteria. Different physical, anthropometric and socio-demographic variables weredocumented and dietary information was collected using questionnaire. Global Physical Activity Questionnaire was usedto collect information about physical activities. Daily energy comes mainly from carbohydrate in the diet of both groups.Consumption of animal protein and dairy products, fruits, visible fat and sugar were significantly higher in urban groupwhereas dietary fibre, green leafy and other vegetables, pulses and nuts intake was significantly high in rural group.Physical inactivity prevalence was 64.0% in rural and 78.7% in urban and there was significant differences between ruraland urban group regard to all the anthropometric indices.In summary, the behavioural risk factors are undoubtedly apprehensive and anthropometric indices are pointing outtowards associated possible metabolic risks which were poorer in urban group than rural. Further clinical investigationalong with proper intervention measure is indispensible.

Underweight is an important predictor for functional impairment among the older adults in Urban West Bengal, India: A cross sectional analytical study.

ABSTRACTObjectives:To estimate the prevalence, pattern, and factors associated with functional impairment among elders.Materials and Methods:A community-based cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among older adults (aged ≥60 years) residing in the urban blocks of West Bengal. An interview was conducted using a structured questionnaire, which included Katz index and half-arm span to measure functional impairment and body mass index (BMI), respectivelyResults:The mean (SD) age (in years) of 457 participants was 69.0 (7.3) years and 52% were males, 72% were graduates, 52% were obese, and 55% had hypertension. The prevalence of functional impairment was 7.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.21–10.24). The most common aid or appliance used was spectacles (93%) followed by a denture (20%). The functional impairment was more common among the oldest-old (≥85 years) (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) 8.26, 95% CI: 2.50–27.28), middle-old (75–84 years) age group (aPR 3.85, 95% CI: 1.44–10.31), underweight (BMI < 18.50 kg/m2) (aPR 3.60, 95% CI: 1.44–9.00), and among the individuals using walking sticks (aPR 3.47, 95% CI: 1.60–7.51)Conclusion:The burden of functional impairment is low among older adults in the urban area of West Bengal. Policies need to be framed at the household level to reduce the extent of disability among the oldest-old and elders who are underweight and use walking aids.

Perceived behavioral control regarding regular physical activity and healthy diet: An observational study among school-going adolescents in an urban area of West Bengal, India.

Healthy children are the foundation for a healthy and developing nation. Perceived behavioral control (PBC), comprising control belief and perceived power, is a person's perception of the ease or difficulty of performing the behavior of interest. For facilitating regular physical activity and regular healthy dietary practices among the adolescents, PBC is an important construct to develop and implement appropriate interventions. The aim is to assess PBC to perform regular physical activity and regular healthy dietary practices and measure their statistical relationship among the school-going adolescents in an urban area in West Bengal. A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 251 adolescents aged 12-16 years after taking consent and assent for participation in the study. Data were collected with self-administered questionnaire on sociodemographic variables and the two domains of PBC, i.e., control beliefs and perceived power, related to regular physical activity and regular healthy dietary practices. Each PBC total score was calculated by multiplying control belief score and perceived power score for each respondent. Partial correlation coefficient was calculated between regular healthy dietary practices and regular physical activity. Among the total 251 responses analyzed, 34.7% and 27.5% students belonged to age group 14 and 15, respectively. It was observed that the mean (± standard deviation) score of PBC regarding regular healthy dietary practices was 100.7 (±27.7) and for regular physical activity was 106.0 (±21.4). The correlation between PBC of regular healthy dietary practices and regular physical activity was 0.421 and was statistically significant. In case PBC score over any behavior is higher, behavioral intention and ultimately chances of performing that particular behavior increases. Designing appropriate school-based health promotion strategies can lead to healthier children fostering regular healthy dietary practices and regular physical activity in their homes and communities.

ESTIMATION OF INCOME INEQUALITY AND FACTOR DETERMINATION OF INCOME VARIATION IN WEST BENGAL USING NSSO DATA

The paper initially attempts assessing extent of income inequality for various social, religious and regional categories, merging rural and urban areas of West Bengal and applying Gini index on 50th and 68th rounds of NSSO employment unemployment survey data. As a comparative study, the result of the paper suggests for almost all categories, irrespective of classification, extent of income inequality increased during the time interval and within a particular time variation in inequality is also found across most of the categories. Further, the paper expands to identify the factors, responsible for variation in income considering different NSSO regions of West Bengal. The results for different NSSO regions show similarity in significance for some explanatory variables and reveals dissimilarity for some others. Age, general education, sector, land possessed, year, religion and socially backward categories appear as significant variables to explain variation in income irrespective of NSSO regions as well as for the state as a whole.

A Study on Job Related Stress among School Teachers in Different Schools of West Bengal, India

Context: School teachers are exposed to high level of stress. Socio-demographic variables, salary, working environment, work pressure play a significant role in causing stress across teachers of different culture. Indian study is lacking in establishing relation between different variables and level of stress. Aims: To measure the magnitude of stress among school teachers, relation between different socio demographic variables of teachers and stress and to find out if there is any difference in stress of teachers in urban, suburban and rural schools. Settings and Design: Institution based, single-centre, cross-sectional study. Materials and Method: 338 school teachers were interviewed across schools from rural, urban and semi urban area of West Bengal. Related data were collected on socio-demographic sheet and stress score was collected on Work Stress Scale (WTS). Data were analyzed by standard statistical methods.  Results: Female sex, age- 50-60 years, urban, private School, headmaster & assistant headmaster, higher paid teachers were found to suffer from high level of stress. Conclusions: Teaching is a stressful job and level of stress varies across different population. Declaration of interest – None. Key Words: School teacher, stress, Work Teacher Scale

Impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on ambient air quality: Statistical analyses of available data on urban West Bengal (India)

COVID-19 pandemic and consequent unavoidable lockdown left an unprecedented shock on social and economic life. Present study aimed to evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on the ambient air quality of urban areas of eastern Indian state West Bengal. During lockdown period, Air Quality Index (AQI) was mostly found in 'Good' or 'Satisfactory' and sometimes, in 'Moderate' categories, and rarely, in 'poor' category. AQI was in 'Good' category for most of the lockdown span at Siliguri (67%) followed by Kolkata (44%), Howrah (38%) and Asansol (25%). Based on average AQI ranges: lockdown period (48.68- 62.12) 0.05) decreased significantly during lockdown. Similarly, PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 level reduced in Howrah. Beside, no significant changes observed for NH3 and SO2 concentration in Howrah compared to one year before. Apart from PM2.5, NO2, NH3 and SO2 level of previous year, mean concentration of PM10, CO, O3 showed significant drop at Siliguri during lockdown. Ambient air quality parameters except SO2 showed remarkable decline in Asansol also during lockdown. It can be concluded that COVID-19 lockdown exerted positive effects from environmental health perspective. It improved overall ambient air quality parameters of urban areas of West Bengal. Proper planning and policy making should be given utmost priority to control air pollution in the present 'new normal' COVID-19 scenario.

Impact of child marriage on nutritional status of women from suburban and urban areas of West Bengal

Background: Child marriage is a substantial barrier to social and economic development of a country and a primary concern for women’s health. In West Bengal, the practice of early marriage is still running especially in Muslim community. The present study was aimed to find out the impact of child marriage on nutritional status of mother in terms of BMI.Methods: 117 Muslim women from both North and South 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal were studied. All of them were from economically lower middle class group. Height, weight, age, age at marriage, age at 1st child birth, number of children, family income and other information were recorded.Results: During the study, the average age of 117 Muslim women was 28.4±3.7 years with a range of 21-41. Average age was 18.0±1.9 years when the Muslim women got married. 83.6% women who got married in childhood were in underweight category of which 15.8% were in severe thinness category. But 86.9% women who got married after 18 year were in normal weight category. Only 5.3% women of this group were in underweight category.Conclusions: Thinness of the mother was might be due to marriage before 18 year. Thus from the above study it could be concluded that child marriage had a negative impact on mother’s nutritional status in terms of BMI.

English

BACKGROUND Obesity is one of the serious public health challenges of the 21st century. Studies in urban India showed that overweight / obesity among adolescents varied from 10.45 % to 21 %. Obesity / overweight is a major risk factor for no communicable disease and some cancers. We wanted to determine the prevalence of obesity and related lifestyle behaviour among the adolescent students. METHODS A descriptive study was carried out among adolescent students in an urban area of West Bengal. BMI was assessed according to WHO growth reference for school children (5 - 19 years). Food frequency data and pattern of physical activity was recorded based on GSHS. Adequacy of physical activity was assessed based on set WHO criteria. Data was collected with a self-administered structured schedule. Anthropometric measurements and record review were done. RESULTS 3.5 % were obese. 12.6 % were overweight, 75.3 % were of normal weight, 8.6 % were thin. Daily consumption of vegetables, milk and fruits were 58.1 %, 31.1 % and 9.3 % respectively. Consumption of carbonated soft drink and fast food was low. All consumed iodised salt and 18.2 % consumed extra salt. 23.9 % of the students performed the recommended physical activity. 46 % student used computer, 53.2 % used mobile. Most watched TV. Overweight / obesity was significantly related to type of family, vegetable consumption and history of chronic diseases in the family. CONCLUSIONS About 16.1 % of the students were overweight / obese. Physical activity and dietary pattern were not satisfactory. A substantial number of students used computer, mobile and watched TV. Thus, promotion for intake of healthy diet, adequate physical activity, and regular health check-up is recommended. KEYWORDS Adolescent Students, Lifestyle, Obesity, Urban

Prevalence of vaccine hesitancy and its associated factors in an urban area of West Bengal, India

Background: Vaccine hesitancy is delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccine services. This study was conducted to find out the prevalence and factors associated and contributing to vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in Rajpur-Sonarpur municipalty of south 24 parganas, India.Methods: A cross‑sectional study was done among 352 children aged 0-59 months. Hesitancy to all childhood vaccination including the birth doses were observed. By simple random sampling ward no 8 was selected among the 37 wards of Rajpur-Sonarpur municipalty. All the vaccination center of ward no 8 on various vaccination days were covered from July 2019- December 2019. Data were collected at these vaccination centers by interviewing parents /associates of the children. Validated version of vaccine hesitancy survey questionnaire by the World Health Organization was used.Results: Vaccine hesitancy was present among 103 (29%) parents/relatives /associates of children. Delay was more common for measles and the booster doses of other vaccines. Reluctance to vaccinate was the most common reason (26.2%) for vaccine hesitancy. About 15(15.4%) parents reported to be unaware or confused of when to vaccinate their children. Improper counselling by health care givers, illness or irritability of the child were other causes.Conclusions: To avoid delay in vaccination weekly vaccination days were recommended. Community level campaigning and home visit of those eligible children to generate awareness about vaccination and to avoid reluctance in parents/associates of children were suggested.

Effect of light pollution on self-reported sleep quality and its components: Comparative assessment among healthy adult populations in a rural and an Urban area of West Bengal, India.

Light pollution is inappropriate or excessive use of artificial light. Nighttime sky radiance is an effective measure to study its effects on individual sleep quality. The study is aimed to measure the effect of light pollution on the sleep quality and compare among people residing in selected rural and urban areas of West Bengal, India. A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted during September-October 2018 in 10 villages of Barasat II block and 10 wards of Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Two hundred and sixty-three participants from urban and 249 participants from rural areas were selected through multi-stage sampling. Data regarding sleep quality and other selected factors were geotagged along with the radiance data. Multi-level linear regression models were built. The mean age of the participants from rural and urban areas were respectively 37.65 (±10.77) years and 38.10 (±11.02) years. Gender-wise the participants were distributed almost evenly in urban and rural areas. Among the urban and rural population, the observed mean global Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores were 12.63 (±3.04) and 9.23 (±2.27), respectively. Poorer sleep quality was observed to be statistically significant with increasing level of exposure. Multi-level models show that, at an exposure of >40.0 nW/cm2/sr the adjusted coefficient was 11.52 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.65, 13.40) in the overall model and 12.84 (95% CI: 12.31, 13.37) for urban participants. The disturbance in sleep is associated with higher levels of night-time radiance of the sky strongly observed among the urban population.

Study on adolescent health and associated factors: Comparison between rural and urban areas of West Bengal

Background: Adolescence is a very delicate phase of life – a period of rapid physical and psychological changes, and a period strife and storm. Mental and psychological problems among adolescents are fairly common. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to study and compare the mental health status and physical activity pattern among rural and urban school-going adolescents. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among both coeducational schools of rural and urban field practice area of Calcutta National Medical College between March 2019 and May 2019. After implementing the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 357 adolescents were randomly selected as our study group. After taking permission from school authorities and ethical committee, the study was undertaken. The questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic data, strength and difficulty questionnaire, and international physical activity questionnaire. Data collected were compiled and presented in tabular form and expressed in frequency and percentages. SPSS version 23 was used for statistical analysis. Results: It was seen that 16.8% of study populations have a mental illness. Among the study group, 24% has peer problem followed by conduct related issues in 22%. The total difficulty score is slightly higher in urban (18.5) than rural (15.3) study population. Girls had more emotional problems, whereas conduct problems, hyperactivity, and pro-social issues were more prevalent among boys. Hyperactivity was less prevalent among adolescents with sedentary behavior. Conclusion: One in six adolescents had mental illness in our study. Awareness and implementation of mental illness-related programmers and incorporation of life skills education and sports, yoga, etc., and can guide the community to understand and identify and help adolescents struggling with behavioral and mental issues.

Comparative Analysis of Alzheimer Questionnaire and Montreal Cognitive Assessment Tool for Cognitive Impairment Screening among the Elderly Population

Introduction: Alzheimer Questionnaire (AQ) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) are tools for assessment of cognitive impairment. MoCA is a common tool for screening of cognitive impairment but it requires trained personnel. AQ questionnaire is informant-based, simple and less time consuming with or without the involvement of trained personnel. Aim: To estimate the prevalence of cognitive impairment and to find out the accuracy of AQ compared to MoCA in Cognitive Impairment screening among elderly population in an urban area of West Bengal. Materials and Methods: The Prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in urban field practice area of All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata among 140 randomly selected elderly population from June to September 2019. Accuracy of AQ with MoCA tool as gold standard in screening cognitive impairment was analysed by Cohen’s Kappa, Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) Curve, Spearman rho Coefficient along with sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and likelihood ratio was obtained. Results: Prevalence of cognitive impairment using MoCA and AQ was 40% (95% CI=31.8-48.6) and 36.4% (95% CI=28.5-45.0), respectively. AQ and MoCA showed good agreement (Cohen’s kappa, κ=0.834; 95% CI=0.739-0.928). The AQ and MoCA showed a strong negative correlation (spearman’s Rho=-0.709; 95%CI=0.764-0.884, p-value &lt;0.001). Considering MoCA as gold standard, AQ showed sensitivity of 85.7% (95% CI=74.2-92.6), specificity of 96.4% (95% CI=89.9-98.7) for cognitive impairment screening and the Positive predictive value of this tool was 94.1% (95% CI=84.0-97.9%). The Youden index of 0.821 showed highest sum of sensitivity and specificity of AQ tool at 4.5 score to anticipate cognitive impairment. Conclusion: AQ is equally effective as MoCA to screen cognitive impairment among elderly at the community level. AQ can be used even by grass root level health workers without involvement of trained personnel. So, community level screening of elderly for cognitive dysfunction can be made even in resource poor settings. Early identification and referral of elderly with cognitive dysfunction will help them in better living.

Metabolic syndrome and its correlates: A cross-sectional study among adults aged 18-49 years in an Urban Area of West Bengal.

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is increasing dramatically of late, across all ages irrespective of gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. People with MetS have twice the likelihood of developing and dying from cardiovascular disease and more than seven times the risk of developing diabetes. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of MetS among adults who were in their first three decades of adulthood and to find out the risk factors of MetS among them. This was a community based cross-sectional study among 388 subjects aged 18-49 years selected by multistage random sampling in an area of Kolkata, India, from November 2016 to October 2018 over 2 years. Data collection was done using a structured questionnaire along with anthropometry, blood pressure measurement, and relevant blood tests. Physical activity was classified by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short-Form questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 16.0), and descriptive statistics were calculated as frequency and percentage. Logistic regression was done to determine the strength of association between MetS and different risk factors. The prevalence of MetS was 44.6% (35.4% in males and 55.6% in females), and female gender, poor economic status, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and addiction of tobacco were found to be the risk factors of MetS in the final model using multivariable logistic regression. This research revealed the high prevalence of MetS in the community. The effective primordial and primary level of prevention along with prevailing secondary or tertiary level of prevention should have been employed to curtail the epidemic of MetS.