لیلا آزادبخت

Nutrition support programs in schools are known as one of the most important and effective tools to improve the nutritional and educational status of children. One of these programs is the school milk program, which can have positive effects on the health, education, and economy of the society. In this advocacy paper, solutions are presented to facilitate the continuation of this program after mentioning the strengths and challenges of this program.

The optimal food basket is a scientific and powerful tool for developing food and nutrition policies, executive planning and assessment of programs to ensure food security and maintain the nutritional health of the community. This cross-sectional study was carried out with the aim of a) revising the optimal food basket of Iranians-2013 based on the principles of sustainable food and nutrition systems as a guide for policy making in the field of food and nutrition; and b) compiling a thrifty optimal food basket of Iran-2023 as a necessary tool in welfare and social support studies and planning.

After collecting opinions of experts and stakeholders from various fields, data of the reports on the comprehensive study of the food consumption patterns and the nutritional status of the Iranian households and individuals, 2017–2018, and information of the statistics center (quantity of consumption of food groups by people, quantitative share of food items, average and price range of food groups, necessary quantities of energy, macronutrients and micronutrients) as well as the Iranian food composition table were used as inputs of the model. Energy, protein and nutrients were defined for age and sex groups based on the latest WHO/FAO references as 100% of the energy needs in the optimal food basket, at least 95% of the energy requirements and 80% of the key nutrients (vitamin B2, vitamin A, Fe and Ca) for the thrifty food basket were covered. Considerations of national and international dietary guidelines promoting health and preventing diseases included fats, 15–30%; carbohydrates, 55–75%; proteins, 10–15%; saturated fatty acid, less than 10%; simple sugars, less than 10% energy; and total vegetables and fruits, more than 400 g. Solver was used as a Microsoft Excel add-in program to optimize the optimal and thrifty food basket values. To apply sustainability considerations, two environmental indicators of water and carbon footprint were calculated for the baskets.

The recommended per capita quantities of food in grams per day for the optimum food basket of Iran-1402 included bread, 290; rice, 70; pasta, 25; legumes and nuts, 30; potatoes, 70; vegetables and fruits, 200; red meat, 30; white meat (chicken and fish), 60; eggs, 40; dairies, 300; vegetable oils, 35; and sugar, 30. In the key micronutrients, riboflavin and vitamin A were provided more than the necessary quantity and iron and calcium in a range of 80–85% of the requirement. The optimal food basket designed-2023 included 5% less water footprint and 2% less carbon footprint than that the optimal food basket did for 2013. Mild increases in the environmental sustainability of the optimal food basket-2023 was majorly due to decreases in the share of meats, fruits and rice and increases in the share of legumes, compared to the food basket-2013. Increasing the quantity of dairy products is one of the reasons that weaken the environmental sustainability of the novel optimal food basket.

Availability of sufficient appropriate nutrition is a human right and a prerequisite for comprehensive sustainable development. Optimum and thrifty food baskets include a big step towards a healthier and more prosperous future for everyone. It is necessary to design and implement food and nutrition policies at macro-levels and continuously assessment and monitoring of their effects on the households and individuals.

Considering that dental caries is one of the most important health problems in the world and considering the role of nutrition in this disease, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the role of dietary patterns on dental caries.

The current study is a systematic review that was conducted by searching in PubMed, Web of science and Scopus databases. The keywords "diet", "dietary pattern", and "Dental Caries" were used. The search was conducted in the time range of 2000-2023 and all types of original studies including cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies were included.

In total, 548 articles were examined, and after screening and checking the title, abstract and full text of the articles, 11 studies were included in the present study. The results indicate the effect of different dietary patterns, including the sweet dietary patterns, snacks and high energy-dense foods patterns on dental caries.

Avoiding sweet dietary patterns and patterns rich in high energy-dense foods is effective in preventing dental caries.

This study was conducted with the aim of analyzing existing challenges and identifying solutions to improve food and nutrition security in Iran.

The present study is a review through the review of existing scientific texts in the field of food security and food and nutrition policy by examining reliable sources in domestic and foreign databases such as PubMed, google scholar, SID, WOS and using the keywords of food security, Nutrition security, food security challenges, solutions, Iran, world, food security, nutrition security, challenges, solutions were done.

Agriculture, natural disasters, political, economic, and social factors, and diet quality index affect food security. Paying attention to the quality of people's diets, implementing food enrichment and supplemental aid policies, and providing suitable alternatives for food that are less accessible to the vulnerable and deprived. It is necessary to implement the appropriate solutions provided and provide proper nutrition education by reputable organizations.

The concept of sustainable development has recently received much attention from countries, especially developing countries such as Iran. One of the main pillars of sustainable development is food security, which requires comprehensive measures to eradicate hunger and food insecurity in the country.

The purpose of this research was to predict post-traumatic growth based on personality traits, coping styles with stress, and spiritual beliefs in patients who recovered from covid-19. The research method is descriptive-correlational. The statistical population included all patients who recovered from covid-19 in the year 2021-2022 in Tehran's 20th district in Tehran's Bo Ali and Amirul Munin hospitals. Of these, 216 people who were selected as available were analyzed as samples. In order to collect information in this research, Tedeschi and Kalon's post-traumatic growth questionnaires (PTGI, 1996), Bass et al.'s personality traits (PCQ, 1975), Andler and Packer's stress coping strategies (SCSE, 1990), spiritual beliefs Parsian and Doninig (SQ, 2009) was used. The results showed that 35% of the changes in the criterion variable, i.e. post-traumatic growth, can be explained by the variables of personality traits, stress coping strategies, and spirituality (p < 0.05). It is concluded that personality traits, stress coping styles, and spiritual beliefs can be related to post-traumatic growth in patients who have recovered from Covid-19.

 Identification of obesity-related dietary patterns in any culture can affect policymaking. The purpose of the study was to summarize obesity-related dietary patterns and their food groups in Tehranian adults.

The study followed the five stages in the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. We searched international databases (PubMed, Web of Science), national databases (SID, Iran Doc) and Google Scholar search engine with the keywords obesity, overweight, dietary patterns, eating patterns, food patterns, diet and Iran for finding related studies that have been published in the last two decades (2000-2020) along with the manual search of the list of selected study sources and gray literature (dissertations and final research report).

A total of 12 studies were included in the review study. 17 out of 33 dietary patterns were associated with obesity. Eight diets were undesirable, eight diets were desirable, and one was inconsistently associated with obesity. Food groups common in undesirable diets include sugar-sweetened beverages, sweets, desserts, industrial juices, sugar, red meat, processed meats, solid fats, refined grains, snacks. Food groups common in desirable diets include vegetables, fruits, poultry and fish, legumes, whole grains, olive or olive oil.

Obesity-related dietary patterns are common in adults in Tehran. This study provided information on food groups that guide targeted policymaking to improve the food groups in food store supply, household consumption, and food industry and agricultural products.

Risk communication (RC) and community engagement are perquisite for management of epidemics. Triumph of RC depends on adjustment of message and considering the characteristics of the sender and the audience according to the context and situation.

This article has been prepared using scientific and relevant articles and guidelines.

For effective RC , the essential steps include public participation; planning; credibility ; deference of other sources of communication ; financing & ethical considerations. For success in RC one should consider community culture, people's beliefs and their understanding of the event . The people’s right to be  worried in epidemics should be recognized by the authorities and participatory strategies rather than compulsive one should be prioritized.

In the pandemic of COVID-19, series of successful and nonsuccessful experiences happened. The of review of these experiences may help the policy makers in their future efforts .

In addition to providing nutritional needs of the body for the purpose of physical and cognitive development, proper nutrition during adolescence is effective in protecting the person’s future health and preventing obesity in adulthood. The present study was conducted for the first time in Iran with the aim of determining the adequacy of diet using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2005 in 13-17-year-old students in Isfahan, Iran, in 2014.

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on a cross-sectional basis. Data related to nutritional status of participants was collected using a three-day food record. A valid standard questionnaire was used to measure physical activity. Dietary intake, daily energy, and nutrients were recorded using Nutritionist software. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple linear regression via SPSS software. Findings: The mean score of HEI in adolescents was obtained 72.67 which was not favorable. There was a significant association between the two variables of mother's job and calorie intake with the score of HEI (P < 0.05).

The diet quality of the most adolescents needs change and modification. Therefore, in order to improve the quality of their diet, some methods are needed to modify the nutritional habits of adolescents, including educational programs and advertisements