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Lockdown is an important measure that has been globally adopted to reduce the spread of the contagious disease caused by SARS CoV-2. The imposed schedule and confinement led to extensive use of digital media and rise in sedentary activity drastically. The escalated duration of screen exposure causes disruption in sleep behavior. An online survey was conducted to comprehend the effect of lockdown on sleep behavior and screen exposure time on school children. Screen exposure time involved with various electronic gadgets was also analyzed. It was observed that the social jet lag and sleep debt were significantly less during lockdown than before it. Inertia during lockdown significantly increased. The difference between screen exposure time on weekdays before lockdown and weekends during lockdown was identified to be the highest. Three clusters based on sleep behavior and duration of screen time were identified of which Cluster 2 revealed simultaneous existence of high sleep duration and screen time. These baseline data on sleep parameters and duration of exposure to the screen will help us in devising approaches to mitigate the evident disruption this unprecedented phase has brought about. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unhealthy Body Mass Index (BMI) is a primary manifestation of metabolic disorder. Disruption of sleep is a major factor that has been observed to culminate into metabolic disorders. Sleep parameters are also influenced by the screen exposure duration associated with the use of electronic devices. Screen Exposure Time (SET) also has an effect on metabolism due to sedentary nature of the activity. Both SET and disrupted sleep are related with cognitive performance. Children are affected by sleep disruption and prolonged SET. Efforts to ameliorate in a primordial age may be more effective to reduce their predisposition to unhealthy BMI and detrimental changes of cognitive performance. In order to mitigate the scourge of unhealthy BMI prevalent in developing countries and to improve cognitive performance, it is important to administer proper sleep duration and SET. It is necessary to delineate an optimum duration of sleep and identify the optimum duration of SET in this regard. SET equal to and beyond 2 hours/day lead to increase sleep debt and decline of cognitive performance. Rise in BMI is associated with increase in SET. Sleep duration of 6–7 hours among participants yields better cognitive performance than those with sleep duration below or above 6–7 hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Ramadan' is observed by the Muslims around the world, out of their religious belief, as a period when they fast all day and break fasting only after sun set. The Ramadan fasting, which can be viewed as alternate fasting owing to the nature of food intake during this time, stretches for 28 days. The food intake prior to sun rise is known as 'sahour' and that after sunset is called 'iftar'. In view of intermittent fasting, the present work aims to study the food intake pattern among children, adults and elderly persons before and after Ramadan in the eastern part of India to evaluate the effect of Ramadan fasting on body weight and BMI, if any. Anthropometric measurements, body weight, height, BMI, Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) and Nutritional Survey were done before and after Ramadan fasting. All three age groups showed increase in body weight and BMI after one month of Ramadan fasting compared to the values of pre Ramadan control. Excess intake of fat, sugar and energy along with a sedentary work routine are the main factors identified as contributors toward such increase. The study also points out socio-economic status as an important determinant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]