Urban Resettlement Colony Of Delhi Research Articles

Urban poor women do not increase their diet during pregnancy: A study from an urban resettlement colony in Delhi, India

Background: The rate of decline in maternal and infant mortality in India is not fast enough to achieve Millennium Development Goals. Poor nutrition, during pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. However, due to various factors, pregnant women do not enhance the quality or quantity of diet during pregnancy. Aims: This study was conducted to find whether increase in dietary intake occurs in pregnancy and to understand the factors influencing the dietary intake during pregnancy in an urban resettlement colony in Delhi. Materials and Methods: Community based case control was conducted among 50 pregnant women and 50 matched controls to study the change in dietary intake during pregnancy and its determinants. In-depth interview were conducted among pregnant women to understand the factors influencing the dietary intake. Results: No significant difference in the intake of energy, protein, iron, calcium, protein, folic acid and Vitamin C between pregnant and non pregnant women. The factors like age, family type, history of previous pregnancy and socio economic status were not associated with increase in dietary intake in pregnancy. In-depth interview shows that even though pregnant women knew that dietary intake should increase in pregnancy, they fail to put this into practice. Conclusions: The pregnant women in the urban resettlement colony do not eat differently from their non pregnant counterpart.

Awareness of breast cancer in women of an urban resettlement colony

Breast cancer accounts for 19-34% of all cancer cases among women in India. There is a high mortality due to late stage diagnosis as patients usually present at an advanced stage because of lack of awareness and non-existent breast cancer screening programs. Aim : To determine the awareness about breast cancer among women in an urban resettlement colony in Delhi. A community based, cross-sectional study carried out in a resettlement colony in South Delhi. Semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect information regarding breast cancer. Modified Kuppuswamy scale was used for assessing the socio-economic status. A total of 333 women were included. The mean age was 36 years+/-15.1 and 46% were illiterate. Only 185 (56%) women were aware of breast cancer; among them, 51% knew about at least one of the signs /symptoms, 53% were aware that breast cancer can be detected early, and only 35% mentioned about risk factors. Thus, awareness about breast cancer is low amongst women in this community. There is a need for awareness generation programs to educate women about breast cancer, propagation of correct messages and promote early detection of breast cancer.

Breast feeding patterns in an urban resettlement colony of Delhi.

Studies on duration and patterns of breast feeding based on recall may lead to a bias about the exact feeding status. The present study was designed to overcome this bias using the 'current status analysis method'. Mothers of 650 infants from 0 to 12 months of age attending a Health Centre were interviewed about the current feeding patterns of the infants and other socioeconomic variables. Month-wise prevalence of feeding patterns was determined. It was observed that breast feeding was maintained at a high level (more than 90%) throughout infancy while exclusive breast feeding showed a rapid decline. At 1 month, 74% and at 4 months, 46% of infants were exclusively breast-fed. The median duration of exclusive breast feeding was 3.83 months. Mothers with lesser education and lower family income were more likely to exclusively breast feed (p < 0.05). The time interval between birth and first breast feed was 24-48 hours in most (48.9%) of the infants. Majority (76.9%) of the infants received pre-lacteal feeds. Hospital-born infants received their first feed earlier and were less likely to receive pre-lacteal feeds as compared to those born at home (p < 0.001). Thus, the practice of exclusive breast feeding has to be promoted amongst pregnant and lactating mothers by health personnel. Also knowledge regarding infant feeding has to be imparted in schools and colleges.