An Analysis of the Lifestyle and Mental Health Status of Adult People Living in Dhaka City: A Cross-Sectional Study in Post COVID-19 Era

Introduction: The Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 affected all the megacities of the world and made the mental health and lifestyle of people paralyzed. According to different studies, such difficulties were different in scale in different cities depending on the demographic attributes of the people. This phenomenon has created the essence of the current study to examine the health conditions in terms of their mental health, lifestyle, and demographic attributes during and immediate past of the COVID-19 era. Method: It was a cross-sectional study covering the people of Dhaka City Corporation. For this purpose, a multistage sampling method was applied, under which the respondents were selected randomly and a self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire was developed based on the DASS 21, as it was suitable to measure the components of mental health in the form of depression, anxiety, and stress. Descriptive analysis and cross-tabulation were applied to find out the association between dependent and independent variables, whereas, a chi-square test was performed to examine the hypothesis. Finally, multivariate analysis was done to find out the risk factors. Three logistic regression models were developed for three dependent variables. Result: The findings of the analysis revealed that the lifestyle of people had severely influenced the components of their mental health conditions during and immediate past of COVID-19 in the Dhaka City Corporation, which varies to some extent depending on the demographic attributes of those. Conclusion: The above findings are statistically significant enough to conclude about the essence of taking preventive measures regarding mental health issues in the future. However, the limitations of this study-keeping it within the urban areas and the educated people, have also created the venue for future researchers to move with their research endeavors in the rural areas nationwide and thus generalize the results.

Microbial profile of some ready-to-cook frozen food items sold in Dhaka city,Bangladesh

This study aimed to assess the microbiological quality of 159 animal-and plant-based ready-to-cook(RTC)frozen food items currently popular in Dhaka.Microbiological analyses were carried out to enumerate total aerobic counts of mesophilic bacteria,yeast and mold and to detect some common foodborne pathogens according to standard microbiological criteria.Higher microbial loads in all animal-based food types,other than chicken strips were found.In contrast,plant-based items were relatively safe except paratha,dal-puri,rooti chapati,and aloo-puri.Several common pathogenic bacterial species were screened by analyzing their morphological,cultural,and biochemical characteristics.Escherichia coli was prevalent in most samples,while Salmonella species were least reported.A considerable number of samples exhibited enough microbial loads at infection or intoxication levels.

Classification of Urban Parks and their Regional Characteristics in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Unplanned urbanization has caused serious ecological imbalances in Dhaka city. This study investigates the efficiency and utilization of urban green space especially parks of Dhaka city. The case study site covers urban parks of Dhaka metropolitan area of Bangladesh. Two aspects （physical and social） were applied for this study. For physical aspect, methods were used RS （Remote Sensing） and GIS （Geographic Information System） of three periods of images （Dhaka city）. And for social aspect, methods were used questionnaire survey, observation, photographs, sketch and previous information about parks. After calculating all data result was showed by maps using GIS. For the changing pattern of green space of periods 1972, 1989 and 2010, result showed that the variation of the green space changes rate was high and gradually green space deceased and build up area increased in Dhaka city. Again according to physical size, parks of Dhaka city were classified into four types： Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large parks. Small parks of Dhaka city were situated beside the residential area and were used as daily purpose. Medium parks were located beside commercial area and its use was for daily and weekly. Large parks were placed at city center and only one extra large park was found outer range of city area. In large parks, people mainly visited monthly or occasionally. Moreover, the spatial-temporal changes of images showed the present status of green space of the city. The consequence of the study reveals that the utilization of park was controlled by various factors in Dhaka city.

Assessment of Municipal Solid Waste Management in the Farmgate Area of Dhaka North City Corporation

This investigation is focused on conducting a thorough analysis of Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM). MSWM encompasses a range of interdisciplinary measures that govern the various stages involved in managing unwanted or non-utilizable solid materials, commonly known as rubbish, trash, junk, refuse, and garbage. These stages include generation, storage, collection, recycling, transportation, handling, disposal, and monitoring. The waste materials mentioned in this context exhibit a wide range of items, such as organic waste from food and vegetables, paper, plastic, polyethylene, iron, tin cans, deceased animals, byproducts from demolition activities, manure, and various other discarded materials. This study aims to provide insights into the possibilities of enhancing solid waste management in the Farmgate area of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC). To accomplish this objective, the research examines the conventional waste management methods employed in this area. It conducts extensive field surveys, collecting valuable data through interviews with local residents and key individuals involved in waste management, such as waste collectors, dealers, intermediate dealers, recyclers, and shopkeepers. The results indicate that significant amounts of distinct waste categories are produced daily. These include food and vegetable waste, which amount to 52.1 tons/day;polythene and plastic, which total 4.5 tons/day;metal and tin-can waste, which amounts to 1.4 tons/day;and paper waste, which totals 5.9 tons/day. This study highlights the significance of promoting environmental consciousness to effectively shape the attitudes of urban residents toward waste disposal and management. It emphasizes the need for collaboration between authorities and researchers to improve the current waste management system.

Impact of River Water Quality on Public Health in Perspective of Asian Rivers:A Case Study of Buriganga River,Bangladesh

Water pollution is one of the current global problems.So many countries are suffering from this problem specifically most South Asian and Southeast Asian countries,and Bangladesh is one of those countries that are suffering from water pollution.Furthermore,the city of Bangladesh,Dhaka is one of the most densely populated cities in the world and overpopulation is showing a negative impact on the water quality now.Most of the rivers are very polluted around Dhaka city because of anthropogenic causes.This study focused on Buriganga river pollution and its impact on public health.This study intended to find out the major cause of Buriganga river pollution and the health status of the community living beside the Buriganga river.Also the study identified all the common diseases which people are suffering from around the Buriganga river area.Then the study compared the results with other southeast Asian countries so that it can make the relationship and can make it easier to understand the current situation of water pollution on public health in East Asia and Southeast Asia regions.During the research work,it was noticed that the Buriganga river is very polluted due to human activities.The transportation system,fishing,and waste canals from industries become the primary reasons behind Buriganga’s current condition.Also irresponsibility of both the environmental department and civil society is the major factor in Buriganga river pollution.The hygienic level was also not in a good condition because so many wastes like plastic materials and other daily use materials were thrown out into the river.That’s why public health conditions around the Buriganga river become vulnerable nowadays.So policies have to be implemented from the right perspective and the institutions have to be strong enough to handle all the issues regarding the Buriganga River.