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The purpose of this study is to understand the association between health behaviours of diet, physical activity, smoking cigarettes, alcohol consumption, safe sex and sleep quality with demographic (e.g. age, gender) and psychological (i.e. stress, self-esteem and sense of coherence) factors in Indian residential college students.

Students studying for Bachelor of Technology at residential colleges in India were invited to complete an online questionnaire regarding their health behaviours, demographics and psychological variables. Each health behaviour was regressed onto demographic and psychological factors to determine which of them were associated with performing each behaviour.

There was no clear pattern of predictors for the health behaviours overall. Self-esteem was related to healthy diet, being single was related to adequate sleep, higher parental income was related to safer sex and being older was related to more alcohol use and safer sex.

This study revealed that health education efforts may need to be designed for specific behaviours and correlates among Indian college students. Interventions regarding (1) healthy eating should target students with lower self-esteem, (2) sleep should target students in a relationship and (3) safer sex should target younger students and those from less affluent backgrounds.

This research is one of the first attempts to study the predictors of health behaviours among Indian college students. The study highlighted that psychological factors (e.g. self-esteem) and demographic factors (e.g. relationship status, parental income, age) affect different health behaviours. These findings can help health educators to design tailored interventions and aid in health education and promotion among Indian college students.

This study focuses on the work from home experiences of professional, middle and upper middle class married women with children in India during the COVID-19-induced lockdowns. This study aims to examine the experiences of changing nature of work and gendered realities of work–life balance for working mothers while working from home during the pandemic.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight working mothers at three different time points during the lockdown in the city of Hyderabad in India.

A thematic analysis revealed changed work practices that required adapting, reinventing and reimagining new ways of working. This was time consuming albeit a satisfying experience for working mothers. At the same time, the blurring between home and work meant working mothers were operating without an off button.

The findings show that the existing gender inequalities in sharing the domestic burden unravelled fast in the absence of support structures.

The authors give voice to the lived experiences of working mothers of managing both work and home and how they navigated challenges during the lockdown.