Prevalence of nutritional anemia in children of high socioeconomic status in a tertiary care center

Background: Anemia is a highly prevalent condition developed in children belonging to all socioeconomic status and is mainly caused due to iron deficiency in nutrition. Aim: To identify the Prevalence of nutritional anemia in children of high socioeconomic status. Methods: Children between 6 months and 14 years of age belonging to high socioeconomic status, admitted in pediatric ward of Kauvery Hospital, a tertiary center at Trichy were included in the study. Children with hemolytic anemia, chronic illnesses, and those who received blood transfusion were excluded from the study. The World Health Organization classification was used for grading the severity of anemia as mild, moderate, and severe based on hemoglobin levels for the age. Modified Kuppuswamy scale 2016 was used to assess the socioeconomic status of the children. Children belonging to upper and upper middle socioeconomic status were included in the study. Results: The overall prevalence of anemia among the study population was 44.5%. Out of 400 subjects, 178 participants were anemic. Of the 178 anemic children, 78.1% were in the age group of 6 months–5 years, 20.2% in 5–11 years, and 1.7% in 12–14 years. Among children between 6 and 23 months, 75 were anemic. Almost all patients showed microcytic hypochromic anemia. There were a significantly higher number of overweight and obese children among those anemic in all age groups. Conclusion: This study concludes that every other child is anemic even in families of high socioeconomic status, especially <2 years of age. There is an urgent need to screen and treat all children regardless of their socioeconomic status or body mass index.

Social inequality in alternative sanctions: A register data study on all adolescent drug offenders in Norway 2005–2015

The penal repertoire for young offenders in Europe encompasses an increasing variety of alternative sanctions. Research indicates that the availability and implementation of these sanctions vary within jurisdictions, raising issues of unequal treatment for equal offences. Among possible factors associated with intra-jurisdictional disparities in alternative sentencing outcomes is the socioeconomic status of young offenders. This study investigates the social profile of diverted youth, thereby addressing social inequalities in alternative sanctioning. Register data on all 15- to 17-year olds charged with minor drug offences in Norway between 2005 and 2015 ( N = 3209) were compared to a randomly drawn sample of non-offenders ( N = 69,201). Offenders who were diverted from a fine to a conditional waiver of prosecution, either with or without rehabilitative measures, were classified with an alternative sanction. Socioeconomic status was measured by an indicator combining register data on household income and parental education. Probit regressions with sample selection were used to identify social gradients in alternative sanctioning. By extensive register linkages, we were able to control for a range of well-known confounders such as gender, immigrant status, family composition, parental crime, and geographical centrality. We found that the probability of receiving a conditional waiver of prosecution was around 5% points higher for youth from a medium-high socioeconomic status background and 8% points higher for youth from a high socioeconomic status background compared with their low socioeconomic status counterparts. The positive social gradient pertained to sanctioning with rehabilitative elements and not to minimal interventions. Social inequality in desistance-oriented sanctions, which may consolidate pre-existing inequalities in criminal charges, is likely influenced by the resources parents have at their disposal to get involved in their children’s legal processes.

Geospatial Analysis and Research on Social and Spatial Inequality of Compulsory Education: A Case Study of Hangzhou, China

Equal compulsory education is an important way to realize social and spatial equality, while the uneven allocation of educational resources in different regions and groups results in inequality of opportunity and solidification of social strata. Traditional research conducted on the basis of fixed search range ignores the special institutional background of Chinese school district system. In this paper, an improved Gaussian two-step floating catchment area model is developed taking into consideration the school district system, while the bivariate local spatial analysis method and geographically weighted regression model are employed to study the social and spatial differentiation of compulsory education accessibility and its capitalization effects in Hangzhou. Results show that (1) the improved Gaussian two-step floating catchment area model is more in line with the national condition of China’s “nearby schooling” policy; (2) the accessibility of compulsory schools in Hangzhou shows an obvious core-periphery typology, and the aggregation effect of primary school accessibility is more significant than that of secondary schools; (3) compared to groups with high socioeconomic status, vulnerable groups are highly disadvantaged in terms of access to educational services; (4) spatial heterogeneity exists in education capitalization, and the areas where education accessibility has the strongest impact on housing prices are in the central city with rich high-quality educational resources; (5) high-quality educational resources, high-priced communities, clusters of high socioeconomic status groups, and communities enjoying high-level education accessibility are highly consistent in all spaces, which is the spatial expression of educational inequality. The research on Hangzhou, a regional central city, provides a theoretical basis and technical support for the humanistic shift in the allocation of educational resources.

Hypochondriasis: A Literature Review

Hypochondriasis is one of six somatoform disorders categorized in the DSM-IV. Hypochondriasis is distinguished from other somatic delusional disorders because this disorder is associated with the experience of physical symptoms experienced by the sufferer, whereas other somatoform disorders do not show physical symptoms in themselves. Symptoms that arise may be an exaggerated statement of physical symptoms, which will actually exacerbate physical symptoms caused by the belief that the patient is sick and in a worse condition than the actual situation. Treatment of hypochondriasis includes recording symptoms, psychosocial review, and psychotherapy. Good prognosis is associated with high socioeconomic status, sudden onset, absence of personality disorders and absence of concomitant non-psychiatric medical conditions.

Prevalence of Pneumonia Associated with Measles among Infants and Children

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of pneumonia associated with measles among children and infants. Study Design: Cross-sectional Place and Duration: Pediatrics department of Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar and Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore for six months duration from February 2020 to July 2020. Methods: Total 150 patients i.e children and infants of both genders were included in this study. Children were aged <5years of age. Patients’ detailed demographics height and weight were recorded after taking informed written consent from the authorities. Patients’ diagnosed measles were presented. Symptoms and frequency of pneumonia among all patients were assessed. Complete data was analyzed by SPSS 22.0 version. Results: There were 90 (60%) children and 60 (40%) infants. Among 150 patients, 100 (66.7%) were males and 50 (33.3%) were females. 70 (46.7%) cases had birth weight > 3kg. 30 (20%) patients had high socioeconomic status, 50 (33.3%) had middle and 70 (46.6%) cases had poor. 85 (56.7%) patients had rural residency. According to severity of measles, 35 (23.3%) had mild,45 (30%) cases had moderate and severity was among 70 (46.7%) patients. Prevalence of pneumonia was found among 95 (63.3%) cases. 40 (26.75) cases had measles vaccination. Conclusion: We concluded in this study that prevalence of pneumonia among children of measles were significantly high. It was due to less number of vaccination status with poor socio economic status among patients. It can be controlled by providing awareness of vaccination to the parents of children. Keywords: Pneumonia, Measles, Children, Infants, Prevalence