Journal of Nutrition and Food Security
Volume:4 Issue: 2, May 2019

Consumption of fast food, as a consequence of the modern industrial society, has increased in recent years among teenagers and young people. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of fast food consumption on female students in Yazd University of Medical Sciences based on the Prototype/Willingness Model. In this descriptive-analytic study, 245 female dormitory students were selected from Yazd University of Medical Sciences by stratified sampling from six dorms. Data were collected using a valid, reliable, and self-reporting questionnaire including demographic information and constructs of Prototype/Willingness Model. To analyze the data, correlation, regression, and ANOVA were applied using SPSS18. Participants' maximum scores of intention with regard to non-consumption of fast foods, subjective norms, attitude, willingness, and prototype were 57, 53, 51, 67.5, and 66.2 percent, respectively. Intention to non-consumption of fast foods had a positive significant correlation with subjective norms, attitude, willingness, and prototype of fast food consumption. The combination of attitude and subjective norms accounted for 0.17 percent of the variance in intention. Moreover, attitude was the most significant predictor of intention (β = 0.38). According to the predictability of attitudes towards behavioral intention about fast food consumption, the individuals' negative attitudes should be enhanced towards fast food consumption in designing education programs for youth.

In recent years, the prevalence of depression has grown dramatically in the world. According to WHO reports, about 350 million people suffer from depression. In addition to the side effects of antidepressants, many patients are resistant to treatment with these drugs. One of the most important effective factors in the pathology of depression is the role of nutrition in controlling and preventing this disease. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the macronutrient and micronutrient status in depressed patients and compare them with healthy people.   In this case-control study, 110 depressed patients were matched with 220 healthy controls based on their age, gender, and area of residence. Patients were selected by simple sampling method. In the case group, unipolar major depressive disorder was diagnosed by a psychiatrist using the DSM-IV criteria. Food intakes of all participants were obtained using reliable semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaires and analyzed with Nutritionist4 software. Anthropometric measurements including height, weight, and waist circumference were calculated for all participants.   The participants included 260 women and 71 men. The two groups had a statistically significant difference in terms of occupation, history of depression, childhood traumatic experiences, and family history of depression (P < 0.05). Regarding the macronutrients and micronutrients, a significant difference was observed between the case and control groups in terms of vitamin C, vitamin K, and dietary fiber intake, which were lower in depressed patients. The results of this study indicated that intake of some micronutrients such as vitamins C, K, and dietary fiber may be associated with an increased risk of depression. Consumption of some micronutrients, mainly fruits and vegetables may be effective to control or prevent the risk of depression.

We sought to evaluate the effect of educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) on nutritional behaviors in relation to the cardiovascular disease (CVD) among health volunteers. In this quasi-experimental study, the participants included 128 active health volunteers. To conduct the study, 65 and 63 participants were randomly assigned into the intervention and control groups, respectively. Data were collected before and six weeks after the intervention using a validated researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of demographic variables, knowledge questions, and TPB constructs. Data were analyzed by Chi-square, t-test, Mann-Whitney U, and Wilcoxon test. No significant difference was observed between the intervention and control groups with regard to the demographic characteristics, knowledge mean scores, and TPB constructs at the beginning of the study. However, the mean scores of knowledge, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and nutritional behavior increased significantly (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P = 0.018, P = 0.007, and P < 0.001, respectively) in the intervention group six weeks after the beginning of study. Significant differences were observed in nutritional performance of the intervention group, in other words the nutritional behavior of the intervention group members changed during the intervention. The PBC was the strongest construct in attitude. To optimize nutritional interventions in preventing the CVD, TPB should be implemented in educational interventions.

Hypertension is the third risk factor for the cardiovascular diseases. This study investigated the effects of mineral water from Damavand spring on the blood pressure and serum lipid profiles in men with hypertension. In this study 41 hypertensive men were randomly assigned to Damavand mineral water (DM) and Tehran water groups (TW). The DM and TW received 1.5-liter bottle of mineral water of Damavand spring and Tehran piped water bottled, respectively. The participants' blood pressure, serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) were measured at the beginning and end of the study. Total hardness of water was measured by titration with EDTA. The results showed that the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures decreased in both groups at the end of the study compared to the baseline (P < 0.05), but the difference was not significant. Serum TC and LDLc significantly in the case group at the end of week 8 compared to the baseline (P < 0.05) and this reduction was significant (P < 0.05). Moreover, no significant differences were observed between the two groups with regard to the mean changes of TG and HDLc (P > 0.05). The findings showed that the daily consumption of 1.5 liters of premium mineral water of Damavand springs decreased the systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, and LDLc levels

Global occurrence of foodborne illnesses is of public health importance in both developed and developing countries. This study aimed to assess the food safety knowledge, attitude, and hygiene practices (KAP) among veterinary medicine students in Shiraz University. This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to June 2017 using structured questionnaires on food safety KAP. Data were collected from 210 undergraduate veterinary medicine students from the Shiraz University, Iran. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA at the significant level of 0.05 by SPSS version 24. The mean scores of KAP of students were 12.05 ± 1.46, 58.67 ± 15.09, and 49.32 ± 18.19, respectively. Results revealed that various age categories and years of education were significantly different from the mean score of knowledge. Regarding the food safety, the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practice of students were moderate. So, it is necessary to raise the knowledge, change the attitudes, and promote the food safety practices of students

Backgroun: The increasing variety of foods and food groups in the diet helps to ensure adequate intake of essential nutrients and promotes good health. The main objective was to determine the diet quality of women, infants, and young children in agricultural mitigation period of Burkina Faso. A 24-h dietary open recall was used to collect all foods taken by women, infants, and young children in Centre-West region of Burkina Faso. The dietary diversity (DD) score was equal to the number of consumed food groups for infants (6-23 months) according to WHO recommendations and for women and young children (24-59 months) according to food and agriculture organization (FAO). Three DD classes were determined for the individual average DD. For each DD class, food consumption profile was determined by food items or groups consumed by at least 50 percent of women, infants, and young children according to FAO guide. The study was conducted among 971 women, 419 infants, and 189 young children. Regarding the dietary diversity score (DDS), 16.3, 39.2, and 44.5 percent of women and 12.7, 49.7, and 37.6 percent of young children had low (< 5), average (= 5), and high (> 5) rates, respectively. Furthermore, DDS was low (< 4), average (= 4) and high (> 4) in 22.9, 12.6, and 64.4 percent of infants, respectively. The consumption rates of roots/tubers, dairy products, eggs, and fruits were very low regardless of the women, infants, and young children DDS in times of agricultural mitigation. The diet of women and young children was a little more diversified compared to infants.

Low vitamin D (vit D) serum levels have been linked to various diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. Maintenance of optimal vit D level should be supported by foods and supplements. Limited food sources of vit D made researchers focus on food fortification in recent years. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials reporting the impact of vit D food fortification on 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] level was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science and Google Scholar from inception up to August 2017. Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria and most of them (n =14) have represented the significant effect of food fortification on the improvement of vit D status of the participants. However, two studies failed to find any reasonable associations. Furthermore, it was observed that vit D food fortification has a greater impact on the people with lower 25(OH)D serum levels. Fortification of foods with vit D has a significant impact on serum 25(OH)D concentrations. Therefore, food enrichment is an economical and effective approach for different populations to prevent vit D deficiency.

Iron overload can cause many complications and damage many organs as well as physiologic functions. Consumption of phetochemicals and flavonoids with iron chelating ability, instead of synthetic iron chelators, can be less harmful and more effective. The aim of this review is to investigate hydrophilic phytochelators in iron overload condition. In this review, the possible natural iron chelators including quercetin, rutin, bailcalin, silymarin, resveratrol, mimosine, tropolone, curcumine, catechin, kojic acid, and caffeic acid were investigated. Furthermore, the mechanisms through which they chelate iron were discussed. The mentioned antioxidants eliminated excessive iron, decreased iron absorption, exerted antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity without causing adverse effects and other metal deficiencies in iron overload condition. The combination of synthetic chelators with these antioxidants or their replacement with natural chelators could be possible treatments for iron overload