Fast Foods, Snacks and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Intake among School Children and Baseline Body Mass Index in an Urban Government School, Nepal

Introduction: Body Mass Index (BMI) is a screening tool that indicates whether a person is underweight, healthy weight or obesity. Fast foods are commercial, ready-to-eat meals with high fat, little fiber, and minimal vitamins or calcium. This study intended to identify baseline BMI and fast foods, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages intake and expenditure on those foods among school children in an urban government school. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 463 students, studying in grade 8-12 of Tri-Padma Vidyashram Secondary School during 21/02/2021 – 12/04/2021. Non probability convenience sampling and self developed structured questionnaire was used to collect data. SPSS 16 was used for analysis. BMI, frequency and amount of fast foods, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages consumption and their monthly expenditure on those foods were measured using descriptive statistics. Results: The study shows that 382(82.5%) had normal BMI, 38(8.2%) overweight, 10(2.2%) obese, 28(6.0%) were in moderate malnutrition and 5(1.1%) were in severe malnutrition; therefore, the baseline BMI is ≥-2 to ≤ + 1 SD. 458(98.92%) respondents consume fast foods, snacks and non-alcoholic beverage. Instant noodles (chowmein and packaged chow-chow) are the highly consumed fast foods 412(89.95%), followed by panipuri 394(86.02%) and samosa 386(84.27%). 263(57.42%) students/participants frequently consume fast foods, snacks and non-alcoholic beverage. The mean expenditure on fast foods, snacks and non-alcoholic beverage (Mean ± SD) is Rs.2676.82 ± 1363.43. Conclusion: Majority of the respondents have normal BMI. More than half respondents frequently consume fast foods, snacks and non-alcoholic beverage and expense much money though they study in government school. Key words: Body Mass Index (BMI), Fast foods, Non-alcoholic beverages, School children, Snacks.

TYPOLOGY OF THE PROBLEMS OF DIGITALIZATION OF URBAN GOVERNMENT

The variety of problems of digitalization of the life of citizens and the problems of digitalization of urban government activities necessitated the streamlining of these problems. The rich practice of German urban government in its digitalization makes it reasonable to speculate about the wide range of problems that German society faces and which are the subject of special analysis. This consideration predetermined the choice of information sources. Turning to the works of German theorists and practitioners, the author carried out a typology of the problems of digitalization of urban and reflected it in this work.

The Developmental Readiness of Government School Teachers

School readiness involves readiness in terms of ability to reading, writing and use numbers along with emotional and psychological readiness to make successful entry to formal schooling. It has been established that academic readiness is the most important component of school readiness. The present study was aimed to assess the knowledge of rural and urban government school teachers of Ludhiana regarding developmental readiness. The study was based on 100 teachers (i.e. 50 rural and 50 urban) teaching Class – I. The sample was selected from seven Government Primary Schools purposively selected from rural as well as urban locales of Ludhiana District. Self- Structured Teachers’ Knowledge Questionnaire was used to assess the academic readiness of rural and urban government school children. The questionnaire comprised of five open ended questions relating to academic readiness expected to be achieved by students of Class-I. The comparison between knowledge levels of rural and urban teachers revealed that urban teachers had better knowledge than rural teachers. Teachers play an important role in building a child’s success in their first years of school. They provide structure and help children grow in their pre-reading and pre-writing skills, teach pre-arithmetical skills and help children understand themselves.