International Journal of Nutrition Sciences
Volume:1 Issue: 1, Dec2016

Adolescents pay more attention to their appearance and body. Irregular nutritional patterns, eating certain types of food, and consuming more protein-containing food are more common in this age group. Considering the importance of this issue and lack of adequate studies in Iran, especially in Fars province, we aimed to assess the relationship between weight-controlling attitudes and eating disorders with dietary intake in female adolescents. This cross-sectional study was done on 600 female students aged 14-17 years from the four educational districts of Shiraz, southern Iran, during 2011-2012 using the stratified random sampling method. Data were collected using three questionnaires as follows: demographic data questionnaire, Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) to assess eating attitude disorders in students, and the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 13 and the NUT 4 software. Six (1%) EAT-26 questionnaire were omitted from analysis for being incomplete. Also, 556, 446, and 491 questionnaires were evaluated in meat, bread, and fat groups, respectively; and the rest were omitted because of not being complete. The mean±SD age of the students was 15.8±0.9 years. According to the EAT-26, we found that 80.1% of the students were at risk of eating attitude disorders (CI=95%, 76.9-83.3). By comparing the results of the FFQ and the EAT-26 and weight controlling behaviors, we found that consumption of meat and fat was significantly higher in students with eating attitude disorder (P=0.027 and P=0.003 respectively). Bread intake was significantly higher in the groups with no disorder (P=0.08). (This P value is not significant.) Moreover, the mean consumption of sandwiches was higher in students with eating attitude disorders (P=0.002). Considering the high prevalence of eating attitude disorders in our study, assessing the underlying reasons and implementing preventive programs is of utmost importance.

In both clinical and community-based studies, weight-for-age Z scores (WAZ) is used for diagnosing and monitoring malnutrition. Height-for-age Z scores (HAZ) is used to diagnose people with growth failure. We aimed to evaluate the anthropometric indices of primary school children in Golpayegan city and to find if such measurements can lead to an accurate estimate of children's growth. Anthropometric indices of school children were checked in 2006 and repeated in 2007 using standard instruments and by trained staff. 2% of children in urban areas and 2.5% of children in rural areas had moderate and/or severe malnutrition both in WAZ and HAZ indices. 1.3% of boys and 2.7% of girls had moderate and/or severe malnutrition in 2006. In 2007, 5.3% of the children had WAZ It is recommended that food basket of people in Golpayegan be evaluated to find their food pattern and by scrutinizing its strengths and weak points a suitable pattern be proposed for people living in other parts of the country.

Considering that children are major part of most populations and also considering the fact that childhood nutrition affects the health status in adulthood, we aimed to assess the nutritional status and its related factors among 6-24-month-old children referring to health care centers in Arsanjan city, southern Iran, in 2011. This cross-sectional study was done on 310 children aged 6-24 months. Weight and height were measured and data regarding demographic status, type of feeding, and birth order, were gathered by face to face interview with mothers of the children. Exact age of the children was recorded according to their birth certificate. Z-scores of weight and height were calculated using Epi-info software. SPSS version 16 was used for data analysis. 27.2% of the studied children were mildly underweight, 2-6% were moderately underweight, and 0.3 %were severely underweight. Also 15.6%, 1.6%, and 0.3% had mild, moderate, and severe stunting, respectively. According to weight for age index 7.4% were mildly overweight and 1.6% were moderately overweight. The prevalence of underweight was significantly more among 6-month-old children compared with the older children (P=0.019). There were no correlations between underweight and stunting and parents’ education or breast feeding. Our results indicated that although the prevalence of malnutrition is less than previous decade, it is still substantial. On the other hand it seems that the prevalence of overweight among children younger than 2 years is increasing. As childhood obesity is a risk factor for adulthood obesity and its related diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, prevention of obesity among children is of importance.

The Qashqa’i form approximately 500000 Turkish-speaking ethnic nomadic pastoralist tribal people, living in Fars province, southern Iran. People choosing macrobiotic diets are frequently identified as following a vegetarian diet. Despite that plant foods contain only non-heme iron, which is more sensitive than heme iron to both inhibitors and enhancers of iron absorption, surprisingly, we noted that the mean values of hemoglobin and serum ferritin in the group under investigation were significantly higher than the same population living in the south of Iran. So we aimed to investigate the food basket of Qashqa’I people in an attempt to find out the reason behind this observation.

Dietary information was collected using the mean of 3-day recall and food frequency methods. Dieticians, with long experience in nutrition surveillance explained the purpose of the dietary information and instructed the girls on how to report quantities using food basket. Iranian food processor was used to enter and analyze nutrient intakes. Weig hts and heights were measured using established equipment and techniques and body mass index (BMI) values were calculated.

Mean value of hemoglobin was 12.31±1.51 gr/dL, ferritin 23.59±4.2 μg/L, albumin 4.27±1.1 gr/dL, and total protein 7.72±1.3 gr/dL. BMI of 81% of the women was between 18.5 and 25 kg/m2.

The mean serum albumin, total protein, hemoglobin, and serum ferritin of this population show that vegetarian diet can meet protein and Iron requirements by using the variety of plant foods.

Although a significant success has been achieved in prevention and control of non-communicable chronic diseases, the incidence and prevalence of these diseases have significantly increased. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of risk factors of non-communicable chronic diseases in Fars Province, in 2008. Using the database of the Iranian Post Company, selected samples were recruited systematically by using multi-stage cluster sampling method (50 clusters of people, each cluster consisted of 20 persons totally 920 individuals) from the whole province. Selected individuals were approached in designated days and related questionnaires were filled. Data entering were done using the EPI-info version 6 software and were analyzed using the STATA version 10. Obesity was seen in 20.3% and 9.4% of the female and male participants. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure was estimated to be 120.8 and 75.3 mmHg. Daily intake of fruit and vegetables was 1.3 and 1.2 servings. And 14.1% of the participants were cigarette smokers. We conclude that risk factors of non-communicable chronic disease are not equally distributed in men and women. Overweight, obesity, abdominal obesity, and inactivity are more prevalent in women, while smoking and high blood pressure are more prevalent in men.