Examining the trend of anthropometric indices in children and adolescents in each region can be highly beneficial in providing effective strategies to improve the status of their growth. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the trend of anthropometric indices in students from primary to high school in the west of Iran. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and health certificates for anthropometric information of primary school students, and current anthropometric measurements with scale for high school students. Then, all of the data were analyzed in AnthroPlus and SPSS software. Of the 731 students, 350 were female and 381 were male. Mean height Z-score to age showed a significant reduction from primary to high school (from +0.0386 to −0.27416), and mean body mass index Z-score to age showed a significant increase (from −0.3916 to +0.1826). Prevalence of stunting and overweight/obesity in high school was 1.4 and 2.5 times higher than primary school, respectively, but the prevalence of wasting reduced by 2.3 fold. Girls were more affected by the increased trend of obesity and stunting compared to boys. Nutritional transition was evident in students. Healthcare policy-makers should design and implement a comprehensive health strategy to deal with this situation, especially in girls.
Adolescent ; Anthropometry ; Body Mass Index ; Child ; Delivery of Health Care ; Female ; Growth Disorders ; Humans ; Iran* ; Male ; Obesity ; Prevalence

Anemia ; Blood Platelets ; Erythrocyte Indices ; Erythrocytes ; Ferritins ; Hematology ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Liver Diseases ; Mean Platelet Volume ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; Oxidative Stress ; Pilot Projects ; Public Health ; Quercetin

OBJECTIVES: Obesity is a considerable and growing public health concern worldwide. The present study aimed to quantify socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in western Iran. METHODS: A total of 10 086 participants, aged 35-65 years, from the Ravansar Non-communicable Disease Cohort Study (2014-2016) were included in the study to examine socioeconomic inequalities in obesity. We defined obesity as a body mass index ≥30 kg/m2. The concentration index and concentration curve were used to illustrate and measure wealth-related inequality in obesity. Additionally, we decomposed the concentration index to identify factors that explained wealth-related inequality in obesity. RESULTS: Overall, the prevalence of obesity in the total sample was 26.7%. The concentration index of obesity was 0.04; indicating that obesity was more concentrated among the rich (p < 0.001). Decomposition analysis indicated that wealth, place of residence, and marital status were the main contributors to the observed inequality in obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic-related inequalities in obesity among adults warrant more attention. Policies should be designed to reduce both the prevalence of obesity and inequalities in obesity by focusing on those with higher socioeconomic status, urban residents, and married individuals.
Adult* ; Body Mass Index ; Cohort Studies ; Health Equity ; Humans ; Iran* ; Marital Status ; Obesity* ; Prevalence ; Public Health ; Social Class ; Socioeconomic Factors*

We aimed to examine associations between muscle strength and obesity and serum lipid profile in Ravansar Non-Communicable Disease (RaNCD) cohort study. This study was conducted on 6,455 subjects aged 35–65 years old from baseline data of RaNCD in Iran. The associations between grip strength and adiposity measurements were explored using linear regression with adjustment for age, height, smoking status, alcohol intake, social class, and prevalent disease. The mean of body mass index (BMI) and muscle strength was 27.2 ± 4.6 kg/m² and 33.3 ± 11.5, respectively. Muscular strength increased with increasing BMI and waist circumference (WC) in both sexes. Multivariate regression analysis revealed a 3.24 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.29, 4.19) kg difference between BMI in top and bottom in men, and 1.71 (95% CI, 0.98, 2.34) kg/m² in women. After multivariable adjustment, a difference of 2.04 (95% CI, 1.12, 2.97) kg was observed between the top and bottom WC quartiles in men and 1.25 (95% CI, 0.51, 1.98) kg in women. In men, with increase of low-density lipoprotein and cholesterol, the mean muscle strength was significantly increased. Muscle strength may be associated with body composition and lipid profiles. Muscle strength can be an appropriate indicator for predicting some of the problems caused by body composition disorders, which requires further longitudinal studies.
Adiposity ; Body Composition ; Body Mass Index ; Cholesterol ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Hand Strength ; Humans ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Iran ; Linear Models ; Lipoproteins ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Muscle Strength ; Obesity ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Social Class ; Waist Circumference

Dietary diversity score (DDS) is known as an indicator of food quality. Dietary diversity can promote health status. The aim of this study was determined DDS and its related factors in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS) employees. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 190 employees of KUMS in 2015. According to the population of KUMS centers which were selected randomly (Paramedical, Public Health faculties, Imam Reza Hospital and province health center), subjects were selected by convenience sampling method. Food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to calculate DDS. Foods were divided into 5 main groups: grains, vegetables, fruits, meat, and dairy products. The main groups had 23 subgroups. Total DDS divided to 4 quartiles: less than 3.0, 3.0–5.5, 5.6–8.5, and more than 8.5. Anthropometric parameters including: weight, height, waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference were measured. Data were analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, χ² test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) test with SPSS 20 software (IBM Corp., Chicago, IL, USA). The mean ± standard deviation of DDS and body mass index (BMI) were 5.68 ± 1.73 and 25.1 ± 3.42 kg/m², respectively. The average of the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in men and women was 0.92 ± 0.04 and 0.86 ± 0.06, respectively. There was statistically significant difference between DDS and self-reported economic status (p < 0.022). No significant difference was observed between DDS and BMI or WC. However, significant negative correlation was observed between DDS and WHR in men (p < 0.019). This study showed that DDS had a negative correlation with the WHR. Therefore, dietary diversity may improve health status by effect on fat distribution in body.
Body Mass Index ; Clergy ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dairy Products ; Female ; Food Quality ; Fruit ; Hip ; Humans ; Male ; Meat ; Methods ; Public Health ; Vegetables ; Waist Circumference ; Waist-Hip Ratio

A precision instrument is required to assess the nutritional status. This study was conducted on comparison of 3 nutritional questionnaires to determine energy intake (EI) accuracy in adults in Ravansar Non-Communicable Chronic Disease (RaNCD) cohort study. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 118 of participant's RaNCD. EI was evaluated with 3 questionnaires including food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), 24-hours recall (24HR), and food habits questionnaire (FHQ). Resting metabolic rate (RMR) was measured using indirect calorimetry. We used EI/RMR cut off to evaluate EI reporting status. The mean ± standard deviation of age in men and women were 44.1 ± 6.5 and 43.7 ± 5.25 respectively and 50.8% of participants were men. Among 3 EI estimating questionnaires, FFQ was more accurate than 2 other questionnaires (67.8%). We observed that implausible reporters of 24HR were likely overweight (p < 0.005) but we did not observe a significant difference between EI reporting of FFQ and FHQ with participants' body composition. Our finding showed that EI underreporting of 24HR and FHQ were high. Under reporters were seemed to be overweight. Therefore, these results suggested that among 3 nutritional questionnaires the FFQ was an appropriate approach to determine EI in this population due to plausible EI reporting was higher than 2 other nutritional questionnaires (24HR and FHQ).
Adult* ; Body Composition ; Calorimetry, Indirect ; Chronic Disease ; Cohort Studies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Energy Intake* ; Female ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Male ; Nutritional Status ; Overweight

OBJECTIVES: Unhealthy dietary patterns are the most important changeable risk factors for breast cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between dietary patterns and the risk of breast cancer among under-50 year women in the west of Iran.METHODS: All women under 50 years old with pathologically confirmed breast cancer between 2013 and 2015 who were referred to oncology clinics in the west of Iran, and 408 under-50 women referred to other outpatient clinics who were without breast or other cancers at the time of the study and 2 years later were selected as the control group. The data were collected using the middle-aged periodical care form of the Iranian Ministry of Health and analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression in Stata.RESULTS: The most powerful risk factor for breast cancer was fried foods; the odds ratio of consuming fried foods more than once a month for breast cancer was 4.5 (95% confidence interval, 2.1 to 9.4). A dose-response model indicated that increasing vegetable and fruit consumption up to 90 servings per month decreased the odds of breast cancer, but consuming more than 90 servings per month increased the risk.CONCLUSIONS: Inadequate consumption of vegetables and consumption of soft drinks, industrially produced juices, fried foods, and sweets were identified as risk factors for breast cancer. In response to these findings, it is necessary to raise awareness and to provide education about healthy diets and the need to change unhealthy dietary patterns.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast ; Carbonated Beverages ; Case-Control Studies ; Diet ; Education ; Female ; Fruit ; Humans ; Iran ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors ; Vegetables

OBJECTIVES: Self-reporting can be used to determine the incidence and prevalence of hypertension (HTN). The present study was conducted to determine the validity of self-reported HTN and to identify factors affecting discordance between self-reported and objectively measured HTN in participants in the Ravansar Non-Communicable Diseases (RaNCD) cohort. METHODS: The RaNCD cohort included permanent residents of Ravansar, Iran aged 35-65 years. Self-reported data were collected before clinical examinations were conducted by well-trained staff members. The gold standard for HTN was anti-hypertensive medication use and blood pressure measurements. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and overall accuracy of self-reporting were calculated. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to examine the discordance between self-reported HTN and the gold standard. RESULTS: Of the 10 065 participants in the RaNCD, 4755 (47.4%) were male. The prevalence of HTN was 16.8% based on self-reporting and 15.7% based on medical history and HTN measurements. Of the participants with HTN, 297 (18.8%) had no knowledge of their disease, and 313 (19.9%) had not properly controlled their HTN despite receiving treatment. The sensitivity, specificity, and kappa for self-reported HTN were 75.5%, 96.4%, and 73.4%, respectively. False positives became more likely with age, body mass index (BMI), low socioeconomic status, and female sex, whereas false negatives became more likely with age, BMI, high socioeconomic status, smoking, and urban residency. CONCLUSIONS: The sensitivity and specificity of self-reported HTN were acceptable, suggesting that this method can be used for public health initiatives in the absence of countrywide HTN control and detection programs.
Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Internship and Residency ; Iran ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Methods ; Prevalence ; Public Health ; Self Report ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Social Class

Intensive care units (ICUs) provides intensive treatment medicine to avoid complications such as malnutrition, infection and even death. As very little is currently known about the nutritional practices in Iranian ICUs, this study attempted to assess the various aspects of current nutrition support practices in Iranian ICUs. We conducted a cross-sectional study on 150 critically ill patients at 18 ICUs in 12 hospitals located in 2 provinces of Iran from February 2015 to March 2016. Data were collected through interview with supervisors of ICUs, medical record reviews and direct observation of patients during feeding. Our study showed that hospital-prepared enteral tube feeding formulas are the main formulas used in Iranian hospitals. None of the dietitians worked exclusively an ICU and only 30% of patients received diet counselling. Regular monitoring of nutritional status, daily energy and protein intake were not recorded in any of the participating ICUs. Patients were not monitored for anthropometric measurements such as mid-arm circumference (MAC) and electrolyte status. The nasogastric tube was not switched to percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy or jejunostomy (PEG/PEGJ) in approximately 85% of patients receiving long-term enteral nutrition (EN) support. Our findings demonstrated that the quality of nutritional care was inappropriate in Iranian ICUs and improvement of nutritional care services within Iranian ICUs is necessary.
Critical Care* ; Critical Illness ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diet ; Enteral Nutrition ; Gastrostomy ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units* ; Iran ; Jejunostomy ; Malnutrition ; Medical Records ; Nutritional Status ; Nutritionists

OBJECTIVES: Unhealthy dietary patterns are the most important changeable risk factors for breast cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between dietary patterns and the risk of breast cancer among under-50 year women in the west of Iran. METHODS: All women under 50 years old with pathologically confirmed breast cancer between 2013 and 2015 who were referred to oncology clinics in the west of Iran, and 408 under-50 women referred to other outpatient clinics who were without breast or other cancers at the time of the study and 2 years later were selected as the control group. The data were collected using the middle-aged periodical care form of the Iranian Ministry of Health and analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression in Stata. RESULTS: The most powerful risk factor for breast cancer was fried foods; the odds ratio of consuming fried foods more than once a month for breast cancer was 4.5 (95% confidence interval, 2.1 to 9.4). A dose-response model indicated that increasing vegetable and fruit consumption up to 90 servings per month decreased the odds of breast cancer, but consuming more than 90 servings per month increased the risk. CONCLUSIONS: Inadequate consumption of vegetables and consumption of soft drinks, industrially produced juices, fried foods, and sweets were identified as risk factors for breast cancer. In response to these findings, it is necessary to raise awareness and to provide education about healthy diets and the need to change unhealthy dietary patterns.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast ; Carbonated Beverages ; Case-Control Studies ; Diet ; Education ; Female ; Fruit ; Humans ; Iran ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors ; Vegetables