India is gaining weight. Traditionally known for malnutrition, Indians now report more and more frequently with overweight, obesity, and their consequences. Indians exhibit unique features of obesity: Excess body fat, abdominal adiposity, increased subcutaneous and intra-abdominal fat, and deposition of fat in ectopic sites (such as liver, muscle, and others). Obesity is a major driver for the widely prevalent metabolic syndrome and type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Although this phenomenon is a global one, India is unique in that it has to grapple with both over- and undernutrition at the same time. This article reviews the weight of the problem of obesity in India.

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There is a growing concern of vitamin D deficiency and its relationship with several extra-skeletal pathological states, ranging from immune disorders (systemic lupus erythematosus, type 1 diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel diseases, and rheumatoid arthritis), cardiovascular disorders (coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, and hypertension), infections (viral and bacterial), endocrine disorders (growth failure, infertility in males, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus), neuro-psychiatric, and neuro-degenerative disorders, renal disorders, chronic lung disorders to cancer. Besides its positive effects on the musculo-skeletal system, vitamin D has shown to take an active part in the regulation of cellular proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis. It has been shown to control approximately 3% of the human genes directly or indirectly. Although there is a strong body of evidence toward implication of vitamin& D deficiency with several extra-skeletal disorders, it remains unclear if vitamin D supplementation may slow down, halt or even reverse the disease processes. This review aims to discuss the potential associations of vitamin D with various extra-skeletal disorders.

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Vitamin D deficiency often presents with musculoskeletal symptoms, such as pain and weakness. These symptoms are common, presenting complaints in patients across the country, across medical specialties. This work highlights the high incidence of low vitamin D levels among 234 female patients presenting with musculoskeletal symptoms in Haryana, North India. A single center cross-sectional study was performed in patients presenting with various musculoskeletal complaints, during winter months. Analysis of 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels revealed a prevalence of vitamin D deficiency of 55.55% and insufficiency of 38.46% (combined: 94.01%).

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Diseases of the endocrine glands highlight the importance of hormonal and nutritional factors in the regulation of metabolism in human beings. The nutritional alterations affect each and every aspect of the functioning of the endocrine glands leading to serious disorders. The last century was marked by the classical deficiency disorders, such as goiter, cretinism, hypothyroidism, and rickets. Industrialization coupled with increased availability of junk food leads to the epidemic of different nutritional endocrine disorders, such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. Endocrine disruptors are the new kids on the block with a variety of implications ranging from obesity to pubertal disorders. We give a concise outlook on various nutritional endocrine disorders in this review.

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Nutrition in the critically ill patients has always been a difficult task for the intensivist. Unlike normal subjects, various physiological and pathological aspects have to be taken into consideration before initiating the nutrition in this subset of patients. The associated morbidities in critically sick patient not only pose clinical difficulties to maintain a normal nutritional status but also create various limitations in selection of a particular nutrient. Various diseases commonly found in intensive care patients produces stress on the body and bring about changes in substrate metabolism thus leading to the deficiency of various nutrients. Numerous tools and methodologies are available nowadays to predict the assessment, screening, and monitoring of the nutritional status in critically ill patients. However, the nutritional status is a big decisive factor in predicting the outcome and malnutrition has been strongly associated with increased mortality and morbidity in these patients. The nutritional requirement also varies with regards to age, body mass index, co-morbid disease, duration in ICU, and many other factors and as such the calculation for nutritional supplementation has to be done strictly on an individual basis. In all these patients, it is also vital to achieve a strict glycemic control by using insulin so as to prevent any increase in morbidity and mortality. Enteral and parenteral nutritional controversies are as old as the concept of nutrition in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Besides therapeutic merits, both enteral and parenteral nutrition are also associated with complications which can be prevented by set protocols as well as by education of nursing personnel involved in the care of critically ill. This article reviews all these aspects concerned with nutrition in critically ill patients so as to make an effort to build a comprehensive approach and strategies for designing the nutritional supplementation.

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Background: Anemia is rampant in India. Around 20% of maternal deaths are due to indirect causes and anemia is the most significant cause. The prevalence of anemia in pregnant women has remained unacceptably high worldwide despite the fact that routine iron supplementation during pregnancy has been almost universally recommended to prevent maternal anemia, especially in developing countries over the past 30 years. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the postnatal ward of Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Mumbai, during the period of January 2008 to June 2008. A total of 408 women were included and a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used for the study. Data was analyzed by using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) 16.0. Results: In the present study, 312 (76.5%) women were found anemic. Anemia was classified into mild (30.1%), moderate (59.6%), and severe (10.3%). Only 72 (25.5%) had more than three ANC visits during the pregnancy. About 234 (57.4%) received iron and folic acid (IFA) tablets, while 174 (42.6%) didn't receive. Conclusion: Most of the women did not receive IFA tablets and out of those very few consumed more than 100 tablets as per the National Nutritional Anemia Prophylaxis Program. There is a need to promote, educate, and increase the awareness regarding the National health programs at the community level.

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The onset of menopause is considered to be one of the most important phases in the life span of a female. Associated with this stage is the fear of various ailments due to progressively diminishing functions of the ovaries. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been considered the traditional mainstay for achieving therapeutic relief of various menopausal symptoms. During the last few years, complimentary products and nutraceuticals have gained immense popularity when compared with HRT. The benefits of these prophylactic and therapeutic interventions have yet to be proven with certainty and these regimens are not absolutely free from side effects either. However, the these products have been researched extensively throughout the globe, and many studies are still in pipeline to prove their definite efficacy and benefits over HRT in relieving menopausal symptomatology. This article is an attempt to elaborate the various clinical facts associated with consumption of nutraceuticals during the menopause period.

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The term "nutraceutical" refers to foods with medical health benefit. Along with treatment, this benefit includes retardation of disease progression, enhancement of disease management, and effective risk factor modification. In spite of rather less frequent use of the term, nutraceuticals are increasingly being used in psychiatric practice. The current article presents an overview of the potential role and use of various nutraceuticals in psychiatric disorders. For purpose of the current review, the term "psychoactive nutraceuticals" has been used to represent nutraceuticals having specific mind-altering properties and found or claimed to be of benefit in psychiatric population.

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