Browsing by Author "Munasinghe, M. A. H. C."

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An anthropometric index to estimate the obesity
(Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Tissera, H. A. N. S.; Munasinghe, M. A. H. C.; Dissanayaka, D. M. P. V.
Obesity is a disease that occurs when the percentage of body fat has a negative effect on a person’s health. As for the World Health Organization's definition, obesity is defined as the condition of the body when the body fat is greater than 25% and 35% for men and women respectively. Obesity is a crucial point to discuss as it has been considered a major nutritional health problem in developed and developing countries. Therefore, many indices have been developed to estimate body fat using various measurements of the body. The objective of this study was to develop a simple anthropometric linear equation (index) that is more accurate than the Body Mass Index (BMI) and other indices which currently use to estimate whole-body fat percentage among individuals. Developing a new index to measure body fat is significant as the current indices fail to measure body fat accurately in some exceptional cases like professional athletes. As for an example, the BMI also does not capture information on the mass of fat in different body parts. Hence developing a new index to measure the body fat level is essential. This study used secondary data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2017- 2018. Missing values were imputed by using the multiple imputation techniques. Initially a descriptive analysis was performed to analyze the composition of the sample. It was discovered that the mean fat percentage was 35.416 with a standard deviation of 7.109 and 24.461 with a standard deviation of 7.964 in girls and boys of age 15 to 19 years, respectively. Total fat percentage was considered as the response variable. Simple linear regression models were fitted to find the most correlated variables with the total body fat level. 15 anthropometric indices were generated using transformations on explanatory variables. The best-fitted equation was selected by considering the High Correlation with body fat, Minimum Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), and Highest R2 value. The accuracy of the index was tested using the test dataset and compared with the accuracy of the current indices. It was revealed that this index measures body fat more accurately than the Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist-Height Ratio (WHR) with an accuracy of 76.8%. Waist Circumference, Hip Circumference and height measurements used to develop new index. Then the selected variables were used with the age category and gender as explanatory variables to perform a multiple linear regression model to find the determinants of the body fat level. As a further study, the developed index can be improved by adjusting for gender-wise and age-wise to obtain more accurate results.
Prevalence of known diabetes in Sri Lanka: results from the Sri Lanka demographic and health survey 2016
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Munasinghe, M. A. H. C.; Nugawela, M.; Jayasundara, D. D. M.; Dissanayaka, D. M. P. V.; Sivaprasad, S.
Diabetes is a major global public health burden. According to International Federation of Diabetes (IDF), Sri Lanka shows an increasing prevalence of diabetes. There is a paucity of contemporary data on the prevalence of diabetes in Sri Lanka. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the national and provincial level prevalence of diabetes and establish the demographic risk factors of diabetes in Sri Lanka. We used data from the Sri Lanka Demographic and Health Survey (SLDHS) 2016 conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka. A total of 106,466 individuals were included in this survey. From the survey data, a total of 71066 individuals aged 20 years and older were identified from all the nine provinces and the diabetes status in the questionnaire was used to define people with known diabetes. Age, gender, ethnicity, religion, education level, smoking history, marital status, urban or rural location, province of residence was included as potential exposures. The outcome was defined as self-reported prevalence of diabetes status. Age adjusted prevalence values were obtained by multiplying the crude age-specific prevalence of diabetes by age-specific weights. Weights were calculated using the Census of Population and Housing (CPH) 2012 data. Multivariable logistic regression was fitted, and Odds Ratios (ORs) were derived to examine the relationship between the covariates and outcome (diabetes status). The age adjusted national prevalence of diabetes is 10.6%. The prevalence of diabetes was higher in women than in men. Provinces with higher GDP (Gross Domestic Product), seemed to have a higher prevalence of diabetes. Prevalence of diabetes was higher in urban residents (14.39%: 95% CI: 13.72% -15.06%) compared to their counterparts in rural (11.38%: 95% CI: 11.10%-11.66%) and estate areas (9.15%: 95% CI: 8.25%-10.04%). The multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that age, urban area, moors, females, province, and high level of education as independent risk factors for diabetes. Moors had 43% increased odds of diabetes compared with Sinhalese (OR:1.43, 95% CI 1.30,1.58). Compared to residing in Rural areas, Urban sector had 19% increased odds of diabetes (OR:1.19, 95% CI (1.11, 1.28)). Females’ risk of getting diabetes was 72% higher than males (OR:1.72, 95% CI 1.62,1.82). Individuals who had a high level of education had 10% of increased risk of getting diabetes (OR:1.1,95% CI 1.04,1.17) than others. People living in Western province, were 64% more likely to have diabetes compared to other provinces. Smoking status of the individuals was not related to diabetes in this analysis. The findings clearly show that known diabetes prevalence in Sri Lanka varies between provinces, with most urban and economically developed regions showing a high prevalence of known diabetes. Given the limited resources available in the health system in Sri Lanka, this study highlights how the population can be stratified for efficient optimization of diabetes care in the country.
A study about the food literacy in relation to health among students in the Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Fernando, H. K. K.; Munasinghe, M. A. H. C.
Food literacy is a relatively new and arising concept around the globe. Past studies have demonstrated positive associations between food literacy and healthy dietary behaviors such as increased consumption of fruit and vegetables, preference for healthy food, and decreased frequency of consumption of processed food. In such context, focusing on food literacy is a promising approach as insufficient nutrition affects students' health and academic success. Students may have competent knowledge regarding nutritional requirements. However, the transition to university life provides them a lot of freedom to choose the type and also the quantity of food they eat. The majority of the universities have dining facilities that provide a variety of food options, which can cause to initiate either good or bad eating behaviors. This study was conducted to explore the concept of food literacy because it relates to overall well-being from the attitude of young Sri Lankan adults who recently transitioned to independent living. Three hundred eighty-three students who were studying at the Faculty of Science of the University of Kelaniya were considered as the sample by using the stratified random sampling method using each degree course as the stratums. Data were collected using an online questionnaire. A descriptive analysis was conducted and a logistic regression was fitted to find the association between food literacy and other socio-economic factors by taking the healthy situation as the response variable. Accuracy of the fitted model was tested by obtaining the confusion matrix. It was found that the precision of the overall model is 78.3%. Height, weight and the residence during the university period were discovered as the significant factors. Results of the study have also shown that while young adults value "healthy" eating, they are at a risk for leaving their family homes because of the lack of necessary food literacy required to make healthy food choices and to sustain healthy food relationships. These results have also suggested that significant challenges exist in obtaining and utilizing food literacy, which appears to influence food choices, health, and well-being. Furthermore, findings specify that young adults could potentially have the advantage of expanding their views on food to encompass cultural knowledge, environmental stewardship, and family connectedness. This study has added worth to the present literature by discovering the factors related to food literacy and well-being from the perceptions of young Sri Lankan University adults. Moreover, this study has shown that young adults may not be equipped with the necessary food literacy to navigate complex food environments