Low Birth Weight (LBW) is an important cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity
Experts suggest that the incidence of LBW can be decreased to no more than 10% all over the world by proper intervention

Direct interventions:

Direct interventions aim to address the immediate causes of low birth weight

Malnutrition – Food supplementation, food fortification, Iron and folic acid tablets
Infections – Early diagnosis and treatment
Heavy work load during pregnancy – Ensure adequate rest for pregnant women
Frequent pregnancies – Birth spacing

Indirect interventions:

Indirect interventions to decrease incidence of Low Birth Weight include:

Cessation of smoking and avoiding exposure to …

McArdle and his associates suggested that 4.5 litres in 4 hours is the maximum allowable sweat rate which is compatible with normal physiological reaction in a healthy young adult male
They also prepared a chart for obtaining the ‘Predicted 4 hour sweat rate’ – P4SR – from any combination of

dry bulb temperature
wet bulb temperature
radiant heat
air movements

P4SR value of 3 is considered the upper limit of comfort level

Thermal comfort refers to the subjective feeling of temperature in an environment. Optimum levels of thermal comfort helps in maximizing productivity. Measurement of thermal comfort levels are complex and many indices have been proposed over the years. They are:

Air temperature

Initially the air temperature as measured from a dry bulb thermometer was taken as the indicator of thermal comfort
But it was found to be a unsatisfactory measure as comfort levels depended on other factors too

Air temperature and humidity

Later air temperature and humidity levels were considered to convey the thermal comfort levels
This …

The Children Act, 1960 defines a delinquent as:

‘A child who has committed an offence’

But juvenile delinquency includes not only juvenile crime, but all aspects of deviations from normal behaviour like habitual disobedience, interaction with immoral people and antisocial activities
Statistics from the United States reveal that about 2% of children between 7 and 17 years of age attend juvenile courts
Similar statistics are not available in India

Causes for juvenile delinquency:

Biological causes:

Heredity
Hormonal imbalance
XYY genotype

Social causes:

Broken homes
Death of parents
Separation of parents

Other causes

Industrialization
Urbanization
Absence of recreation facilities

Prevention:

Improving family values
Schooling
Social welfare schemes

Assessment of dietary intake is an important component of nutritional assessment. The different methods for assessment of dietary intake are:

Weighing of raw food

The amount of food to be cooked and the amount that is wasted or discarded is weighed
This is the most commonly used method
It is can be done for a period of 1-21 days (usually done for a period of 7 days – one dietary cycle)

Weighing of cooked food

Weighing of cooked food is a better method as changes to food during cooking is taken into consideration
But it does not have wide acceptance

Oral questionnaire method

This method …

WHO defines maternal death as

‘The death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy,
irrespective of duration or site of pregnancy
from a cause that is related or aggravated by pregnancy
but is not due to accidental or incidental causes

According to ICD (International Classification of Diseases), there are 2 categories of maternal deaths:

Direct obstetric deaths

Death due to obstetric complications of pregnant state (pregnancy, labour and puerperium), interventions, omissions, incorrect treatment or a chain of events arising from any combination of the above

Indirect obstetric deaths

Death from preexisting disease or …

A sanitary well is one that is properly located, well constructed, and well protected from possible locations of contamination so as to ensure supply of safe water. The criteria for a sanitary well are:

Location

A sanitary well should be located atleast 15m away from possible sources of contamination
It should be located a higher level than nearby sources of contamination
It should not be located too far away from the people’s houses …

The indicators of housing are of 3 types:

Physical indicators:

Floor space
Cubic space
Room height
Person per room
Rooms per house
Environment – air, water, light, sound

Economic indicators

Building cost
Rental
Tax

Social indicators (proposed by inter regional seminar on Social Aspects of Housing organised by the UN in 1975)

Related to prevention of illness

Frequency of illness due to accidents
Frequency of illness due to impure water
Frequency of illness due to improper disposal of waste and sewage
Frequency of illness due to proximity to animals
Frequency insect borne diseases
Frequency of illness due to overcrowding
Access to medical facility

Related to comfort

Thermal comfort
Visual comfort
Acoustic comfort
Spatial comfort

Indicators related …

Recommended standards for rural housing are as follows:

Minimum 2 living rooms
Ample verandah (sit out) space
Built up area of house should not exceed one third of total land area
Separate kitchen with paved sink or platform for washing utensils
Tube well or dug well within quarter mile from house
Cattle shed should be at a minimum distance of 25 feet from the house
Window area should at least 10% of floor area
Sanitary latrine should be present
Provision for proper waste disposal

Antirodent measures are of mainly 5 types:

Sanitation

Environmental sanitation is probably the most effective method for controlling the rodent population
Rodents require food, water and shelter to survive, depriving them of these can will significantly decrease their population
Sanitation measures include:

Proper waste disposal – prevent access to rodents
Making building rodent proof
Closing rat holes using concrete
Proper food storage

Rat trapping

Rat traps use baits to capture rats
But rats are very skilled at avoiding rat traps
The Haffkine Institute, Mumbai has developed an innovative rat trap which can trap upto 25 rats
Rat traps should be used …