Adolescence is a phase of rapid transitions. Adolescents undergo many physiological and behavioural changes during this phase. Because of the increased growth rate and changes in body composition associated with puberty their nutritional needs are increased drastically.1 Meeting these increased nutritional needs in an appropriate manner is a challenge for them and also for the society. Nutrition during this phase of life is an important determinant for occurrence of several chronic diseases, including obesity, coronary heart disease, certain types of cancer, stroke, type 2 diabetes and several other nutritional deficiency diseases; later in the adulthood and also malnutrition is associated with significant immediate and long term health risks, and also a predictor of increased risk of adult morbidity and mortality.

Introduction: Adolescents are placed in critical stage of human development when they are stepping from childhood to adulthood. Worldwide, it is seen that aggression is one of the most common features in this group. Aims and Objectives: (1) To identify aggression among school-going adolescents and (2) To assess different sociodemographic characteristics associated with aggression among these students Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in one of the private schools in Karnataka from 1st September to 1st December, 2015 (3 months). Study population comprised of high school children studying in classes VIII–X. A pre-tested, semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the study subjects. For assessing aggression, a modified version of direct and indirect aggression scale (DIAS) was used. School authority permitted the study. An information sheet and consent form was given to each student. The consent form was to be signed by a parent or guardian and returned to the school. Data was entered in MS-Excel. Data was analyzed by using frequency tables and significant association was established by chi-square test. Results: A total of 187 students participated in the present study. A significant proportion of adolescents scored very high on aggression scale. Males were found to be more aggressive than females and as the age of school children advanced, aggression scores also increased. And these results were statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: Overall, prevalence of aggression was high in adolescents, especially among males, late adolescents and Hindus and whose mothers were less educated. Understanding sex and age differences in the development of various types of aggressions during adolescence can guide the development of violence prevention programs. Such intervention programs should be started early in life to have the most impact on aggression during adolescence.

Background: In submission to the increasing burden of tobacco use, an Act named Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003 (COTPA) has been made to regulate tobacco use. Despite various rules and regulations initiated by the government, tobacco is easily accessible to minors and students of educational institutions. The present study is an attempt to assess the prevalence and patterns of tobacco use among college-going students, their perceptions about tobacco use and the level of acquaintance with COTPA Methods: A cross-sectional study in September 2014 was conducted among 237 students. A pre-designed, semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to assess perceptions related to tobacco use and acquaintance with COTPA 2003. Results: Ever or current use of tobacco was present among 3.8% students. Tobacco consumption was present among family members of 74(31.2%) study participants. Ban on smoking in public places and on tobacco advertisement was known to 92.82% and 49.8%, respectively. Smoking in their institution was noticed by 53.2% study participants. Conclusions: COTPA, even after 13 years of implementation, has not been completely enforced. Strict compliance to rules is necessary by legal enforcement. The lack of awareness about the Act among medical students has to be looked upon seriously.

Purpose of the Study: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of smoking, knowledge about the ill effects of smoking on health, and the influence of family members’ smoking habits among college female students. Materials and Methodology: The cross-sectional survey was carried out amongst 1000 young collegegoing girls in and around Mumbai to know the prevalence of cigarette smoking amongst young college girls between 18 and 25 years, with reference to the factors that caused the initiation of smoking, daily smoking activities, the desire levels of smoking, psychological mind set and the quit rates. Other factors like the common age at which females tend to begin smoking are also looked into. Data was collected via a questionnaire, which was designed and validated indigenously. This survey would thus be a stepping stone for future studies to be conducted on this topic. Outcome Measures: Self-reports of cigarette smoking in the past 30 days and in the past year, age at smoking first cigarette, and number of attempts to quit. Results: Descriptive analysis was done using SPSS version 18. In the present study, 1000 samples were taken out of which 13% college girls were cigarette smokers while 87% subjects did not smoke cigarettes. Girls from all three major courses of study had participated in the study (science, commerce and arts) of which 68% were science students. 3% subjects smoked only cigarettes while 10% consumed both cigarette and hookah. Conclusion: The study concludes that the prevalence of smoking amongst girls varies in different subject streams and that family and friends have a great influence on individuals starting or stopping smoking. Extensive health education programs are needed to educate young women on the health hazards of smoking and help stop them from smoking. Also, the main cause of initiation of smoking was friends’ influence and encouragement; the next cause being studies’ stress while few subjects started smoking out of curiosity and just to try, and a few girls started just for fun. It was also ascertained that peer pressure does cause young girls to initiate smoking.

Sex and sexuality are still considered a taboo in various cultures, especially in India and is not often discussed. There is a lacuna of family- life education not only in our home and communities but also in our schools. Although the adolescent age group is generally considered to be a healthy period more than one-third of disease burden and more than half of premature deaths among adults can be attributed to behaviours or conditions that begin or occur during this period; exposing the adolescent to a plethora of issues such as experimentation with sex, substance abuse and violence putting them at risk of both intentional and unintentional injuries, STIs, overdose etc. There is a need to address the issues of this age group through a holistic approach of education. This article makes its case towards the need of integrating family-life education not only at the school but also at the community level.

First, the authors have not clarified what is meant by ‘family-life education’ and/or what it comprises of or how this type of education would be delivered at school and at the community level as proposed. This lack of information makes it quite difficult to critique the need and/or the potential effectiveness of such an approach in ensuring good adolescent sexual health. The authors claim that “Sex and reproductive education are not adequately stressed both in schools and at homes” and also claim that discussing about sex and sexuality is considered a taboo in India. If this argument is indeed true, the modality of delivery/implementation of this ‘family-life education’ intervention becomes even more important than the concept and content of ‘family-life education’. A carefully designed comprehensive sexuality education intervention and availability of adequate access to sexual and reproductive health services as a combination have been proven to be one of the most effective techniques in improving sexual health among adolescents2,3. We however, would like to bring the authors’ attention to the evidence surrounding the poor implementation of such intervention strategies and that this often results in these interventions becoming ineffective, not to mention the difficulty in sustaining such interventions, especially when the costs would have to be borne by public health budgets3 . The details of the intervention and the method of delivery of such an intervention have not been discussed in any detail in this perspective paper1 . Since there are many micro and macro level initiatives aiming to deliver family-life education in India4 , it is only appropriate for the authors to adequately critique such initiatives as part of their lobbying for the need of ‘family-life education