International Journal of Food, Nutrition & Dietetics

Women working in IT sector are reported to have various health issues, due to shift hours they are unable to cope up with stress, tend to eat wrong kind of food without following a improper dietary regime and therefore suffer from obesity and other related problems at an early age. In this study 150 call centre female employees were selected randomly for the purpose through medical assistance in the form of physical health check up camp in the vicinity of call centre. The demographic information and dietary habits details were collected through a questionnaire and employees were screened for anthropometry assessment. Standard measures were used for taking measurements (Ht., Wt., BMI, Waist & Hip mts. and WHR (Waist Hip ratio). Descriptive statistics such as mea , frequencies and % were used to describe the association of the variables. The study found that the employees were aged between (18-35yrs), out of which 45 (30%) females were found doing morning duty and 42 evening shifts (28%) and 35(23%) doing night shifts and 28( 19%) day duty. (30%) females had one year experience with the company and 80(53.3%) females worked for five days a week and rest six to seven days i.e. 50 (33.3% & 13.3%) respectively . The data revealed that there are no fixed timings of taking their meals while on shift as well as on off days. Consumption of alcohol and smoking found to be 20-30% for those consuming daily. The dietary practices showed uncertain meal timings followed by no meal pattern fixed, intake of fried food, bakery products and beverages found to be significant (including alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages ) along with smoking habit . The anthropometric measurements revealed that the mean height and weight observed was 159.7 cms and 55.5kgs . The mean BMI was 22.81kg/m². whereas the average of WHR was found to be 0.90 cms. This indicated that most of the females fall under normal weight category but the WHR value indicates the prevalence of unacceptable ratio of WHR . 80 (53.3%) females belonged to normal weight category, whereas (12.6% & 5.3%) i.e. 43 and 19 females belonged to Grade I obesity and underweight category respectively. Only 8 (5.3%) belonged to Grade II obesity respectively .

Keywords: Call centre; Dietary habits; BMI; WHR.

Background: Football is a sport characterized by periods of moderate intensity activity interspersed by short periods of high intensity sprinting activity. A high level of energy expenditure, coupled with fluid loss owing to the hot and humid climate, and injuries, means sound nutritional and hydration strategies are required to optimize performance. Although the players and the coaches usually understand the principles of physical training, they often neglect the equally well developed Principles of Nutrition. Aim: To assess the Nutrition Knowledge of Football Players and formulate an effective Nutrition Communication Package for Indian Football team. Methods and Materials: Two Hundred Football players from all over India were selected and their Knowledge about nutrition and health were elicited using a pretested validated questionnaire which included questions on various aspects of nutrition including healthy balanced diet, macronutrients, micronutrients, fluid and electrolyte, pre competition, during and post competition meals and nutrition labeling, at baseline and based on their knowledge and extensive literature review on sports nutrition, the nutrition education program was formulated. The Nutrition Knowledge questionnaire was scored, each correct answer was given a score of one and each wrong answer, a score of zero. Statistical analysis was done using Mean, Standard deviation and Percentages. Results: The mean nutrition knowledge of football players was observed to be low. Based on the gaps of knowledge after analysis of the data a Nutrition Communication Package was formulated. The “benchmark principles to victory” included healthy balanced diet-selecting carbohydrates the healthy way, proteins for healthy muscles, Good fat-omega 3, immunity enhancers, pre event fuelling, competition drinks and post competition recovery food and rehydration solutions. This Nutrition communication package was transformed into power point presentations, leaflets and fact sheets and can be delivered through Individual Counseling and focus group discussions. Conclusion: This comprehensive Nutrition Communication Package including “Benchmark principles to victory” can be an ideal training material for our Football team and can be modified based on the requirement of individual sport in India.

Keywords: Nutrition communication package; Football; Football players; Nutrition knowledge. 

Iron deficiency anaemia along with vitamin A deficiency continuously posing a significant challenge to public health all over India. Iron and b-carotene rich value added foods were developed to combat anaemia. Six Prash combinations were developed by using amla, fresh cauliflower leaves and cauliflower leaf powder, extracts of ginger, mint, lemon, mishri, spices and honey. Sensory evaluation revealed that ginger prash had the highest overall acceptability scores (8.7) while amla prash IV had the minimum scores as 7.2. Nutritionally energy and protein content ranged from 259 to 322 kcals and 2.7 to 6.1 % in fresh weight basis in various formulations. These were good source of calcium and iron ranging from 215 and 7.7 mg (amla prash I) to 413 and 20.1 (mint prash). Ascorbic acid ranged from 17.2 mg in ginger prash to 69.3 in amla prash IV. Amla prash I had the minimum b- carotene as 1551 µg where as mint prash had maximum value as 3359 µg. Taking 30 g as per day serving these formulated health foods can contribute 64.6 to 124.0 mg of calcium, 2.31 to 6.04 mg of iron, 5.12 to 20.80 mg of vitamin C and 465 to 1009 ìg of b-carotene in adult woman’s diet.

Keywords: Value added foods, Prash, b-carotene, Sensory evaluation, Nutritional evaluation 

Public Distribution System (PDS) was established with the object to ensure food security primarily to the poor section of the society. The  performance of PDS in Rajasthan reveal that it is performing well in terms of allocation and lifting but the other irregularities has reduce it’s impact on poor. This needs to be checked.

Keywords: PDS; Distribution; BPL.