Parashar presented her findings on ‘Bio-social factors influencing menopause and the effect of menopausal symptoms on health of Indian women’. A research scholar in the department since 2005, she has been pursuing research on the topic under the supervision of Prof R K Pathak. She is also a Project Fellow in the department.

Parashar says, “In our country, the research on menopausal women is not very extensive. We find importance being given to adolescent girls as well as old women with studies being conducted involving them. However, the same is not true for women who are nearing menopause or are experiencing it. So, I picked up this particular topic.”

Parashar was among six candidates to be shortlisted and called for the presentation in October. The study has been conducted on Punjabi women staying in Chandigarh. It was found that the average age of facing menopause was around 47 years, which was higher than that of other women in North India. It also says that working women had relatively earlier menopause than non-working women.

The study further revealed that the women having late menopause were significantly taller and heavier than women who experience early menopause. The percentage of body fat was also found to be higher in the late menopausal group.