UGC NTA NET/JRF Exam, Social Medicine & Community Health, June-2025

When children are educated about healthy behaviors such as avoiding open defecation, and they later influence their parents, grandparents, and other elders to follow the same practice, this represents the concept of Ascending Education in health education.

Ascending education means the flow of health knowledge and behavioral change from younger to older generations, or from lower to higher levels in the social or family hierarchy.

It highlights how educating schoolchildren can act as a catalyst for community-wide change, as children often become effective communicators and motivators within their families.

This approach is often used in school health programs and community sanitation campaigns, such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, where students play a key role in spreading awareness.

Among the indicators of maternal mortality: The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) measures the risk of maternal death per live birth.

• The Maternal Mortality Rate captures the risk per woman of reproductive age but doesn't consider fertility directly.

The measure that incorporates both the risk of maternal death per pregnancy/birth and the fertility level of the population is the Maternal Mortality Rate. It expresses the number of maternal deaths per 1,000 women of reproductive age (15-49 years), reflecting both frequency of pregnancies and fatality risk.

Time management techniques are tools used to plan, schedule, and monitor project timelines effectively.

Commonly used methods include:
• Critical Path Management (CPM)
• Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
• Gantt Charting

These are all network or graphical scheduling tools used to optimize time and resource use. However, Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) is a materials management and inventory control technique, not a time management method - it focuses on minimizing the total cost of ordering and holding inventory.

Disaster mitigation refers to the measures taken to reduce the impact or severity of a disaster on people, infrastructure, and the environment.

It includes both structural measures (like building flood barriers, earthquake-resistant structures) and non-structural measures (like enforcing building codes, community education, and land-use planning).

In contrast:

• Prevention aims to avoid disaster occurrence,
• Preparedness focuses on planning response actions, and
• Recovery involves post-disaster rehabilitation.

Thus, mitigation specifically deals with impact reduction before the disaster strikes.

The Physicians' Health Study tested two interventions simultaneously - aspirin for prevention of cardiovascular disease and betacarotene for prevention of cancer - using a factorial design.

A factorial design allows the study of two or more interventions in the same population using the same trial setup.

Participants are randomly assigned to receive combinations of interventions, enabling researchers to assess both individual and combined effects efficiently. This makes the design cost-effective and statistically powerful.

In the given objective - "Proportion of persons who are smokers should reduce from current 20% to 10% in next one year" —

• The phrase "proportion of persons who are smokers" refers to what is being measured, i.e., the Indicator.

• The phrase "reduce from 20% to 10% in one year" represents the desired level of achievement, i.e., the Target.
Thus, X = Indicator and Y = Target.

The effective literacy rate in India is calculated using the population aged 7 years and above as the denominator. This excludes children below 7 years, as they are considered too young to have attained, basic literacy skills.

Hence, the effective literacy rate =
(Literate population aged ≥ 7 years) ÷ (Total population aged ≥ 7 years) × 100. The correct answer is: Population aged 7 years and more in the same year

A disease surveillance system is designed to collect, analyze, and interpret health data for action. Its main functions include:

• Providing early warning of epidemics,
• Evaluating control and preventive measures, and
• Studying the natural history and patterns of disease.

However, it does not aim to identify low-risk groups, since surveillance focuses on detecting high-risk groups and emerging health threats for timely intervention.

To find the critical path, we must determine which path, we must determine which path through the network diagram takes the longest time, as this represents the minimum duration required to complete the project.

Let's calculate the duration for each possible path:

1. A B →C→F→G = 2d + 5d + 5d + 3d = 15 days
2. A→D → C→FG = 3d + 3d + 5d + 3d = 14 days
3. A →D → E→F→ G = 3d + 2d + 2d + 3d = 10 days
4. A → E→F→ G = 6d + 2d + 3d = 11 days

The critical path is the one with the maximum duration, i.e., 15 days, which corresponds to: A → B→ C→ F→G.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024 by ICMR-NIN, recommendations for sedentary pregnant women include:

Avoiding foods made with hydrogenated fats (vanaspati, margarine),
Including green leafy and other vegetables daily, and
Avoiding lifting heavy objects to prevent strain.

However, the statement "Take sleep immediately after every meal" is incorrect, as lying down right after eating can cause indigestion and heartburn. Pregnant women are advised to rest but not immediately sleep after meals.