The present study aimed to assess the relative validity and reliability of a modified Food and Nutrition Literacy (M-FNLIT) questionnaire in primary school children in the city of Mashhad. The study was conducted in four phases. In the first step, the content and face validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by Delphi consensus as well as interviewing the students. Then, construct validity was examined using Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA). The internal consistency and reliability of the questionnaire were also assessed using Cronbach α and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), respectively. Finally, a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to detect the cut-off scores of the M-FNLIT scale. Findings of two rounds of Delphi showed satisfactory levels of Content Validity Ratio (CVR): 0.72 and 0.92, Content Validity Index (CVI): 0.92 and 0.98, respectively. The results of CFA for domains and subscales of M-FNLIT questionnaire including cognitive domain (understanding food and nutrition information and nutritional health knowledge) and skill domain (functional, food choice, interactive, and critical skills) indicated acceptable fit indices. M-FNLIT subscale-specific Cronbach α values ranged between 0.68 to 0.8 and ICC was 0.95 (CI: 0.93-96). The Final questionnaire included 40 items (36 Likert-type and 4 true-false items). FNLIT scores were categorized as low (≤58), medium (>58-<81), and high (≥81). The M-FNLIT questionnaire has a good level of validity and reliability to measure food and nutrition literacy in primary school children. The questionnaire can be applied in the evaluation of nutritional interventions in this age group.

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Objective: Many arthritic patients have the belief that dietary habits can worsen or ameliorate their symptoms. Whether diet quality can modify the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an issue of continued scientific debate and interest. Therefore, we aimed to examine the association between both overall diet quality and the overall diet inflammatory potential on the risk of RA. Design: Overall diet quality and the overall inflammatory potential of the diet were evaluated with the use of Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015, respectively. Both DII and HEI-2015 scores were calculated based on a validated semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Multivariable-adjusted odds of RA were calculated across tertiles of HEI, and Energy-adjusted DII (E-DII) scores using binary logistic regression. Setting: Mashhad, Iran Participants: 50 newly diagnosed RA cases and 100 well-matched healthy people controls. Results: Individuals in the highest tertile of DII scores, indicating the most pro-inflammatory diet, were about three times more likely to have RA than those in the lowest tertile (Odds Ratio: 2.99; 95%CI: 1.08 to 8.24; P-trend:0.037), whereas individuals in the highest tertile of HEI scores, indicating more top dietary quality, had a significantly lower odds of RA than those in the lowest tertile (Odds Ratio: 0.33; 95%CI: 0.12 to 0.87; P-trend:0.024). Conclusion: Our findings show that E-DII and HEI-2015 are positively and negatively associated, respectively, with the odds of RA in a convenience sample of Iranians. These results highlight the importance of overall diet quality in modulating the risk of RA.

Introduction: Low serum vitamin D has been shown to be a risk factor for Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). The aim of this study was to assess the effects of high dose vitamin D supplementation on hs-CRP, ESR and clinical outcomes, including duration of hospitalization, quality of life and New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Classification, in adults with COVID-19. Methods: This double-blind, randomized control trial will be conducted on patients with RT-PCR and/or chest CT scan diagnosis of COVID-19 admitted in Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. Participants will be randomized into control and intervention groups based on randomization sampling. The intervention group will receive soft gel containing 50,000 IU vitamin D on the first day followed by 10,000 IU/day through a supplement drop daily for 29 days. The control group will receive 1000 IU vitamin D daily through supplement drop and a placebo soft gel. All participants will undergo laboratory assessment including inflammatory markers, serum 25)OH)D, complete blood count (CBC), liver and renal profile, lipid profile and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) at baseline and at day 30. The mortality rate will be recorded in both groups. Results: Data will be presented using descriptive statistics. Comparison of changes in study parameters over the study period will be performed using analysis of covariance adjusting for possible confounders. Conclusions: The findings of this will provide evidence on the effects of high dose vitamin D supplementation on inflammatory markers in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Background: Arterial stiffness (AS) indicates the initial stage of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is associated with modifiable and lifestyle risk factors. We aimed to examine the association of AS with anthropometric indices, lipid profiles and physical activity (PA). Methods: Six hundred and fifty-eight healthy middle-aged adults were selected and anthropometric indices [body mass index, waist circumferences (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), neck circumferences, a body shape index (ABSI), body roundness index (BRI), body fat mass (BFM), visceral fat area, fat-free mass (FFM), lipid profiles and PA] were measured. AS is measured by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) and central augmentation index (cAIx).Results: Our results show that cf-PWV was positively associated with TGs (β = 0.10, P = .01) and anthropometric indices correlated with WC (β = 0.11, P = .02), WHR (β = 0.09, P = .03), WHtR (β = 0.1, P = .02) and BRI (β = 0.09, P = .04). cAIx was independently positively associated with cholesterol (β = 0.08, P = .03), WC (β = 0.1, P = .03), WHR (β = 0.09, P = .02), ABSI (β = 0.09, P = .01), BRI (β = 0.08, P = .05), visceral fat area (β = 0.09, P = .03) and BFM (β = 0.08, P = .04) and negatively associated with PA (β = −0.08, P = .03).Conclusions: WC, WHR and BRI were associated with both cf-PWV and cAIx. TGs and WHtR were associated with cf-PWV, while cAIx was associated with ABSI, improving these indices may be helpful to prevent CVD.