Objective: There is growing evidence suggesting that household food insecurity (HFI) is associated with adverse outcomes on mental health; however, limited evidence exists for pregnant women. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between HFI and depressive symptoms among a sample of pregnant women. Method: This cross sectional study was performed on 394 pregnant women referring to the health centers located in Qom, Iran, from October 2017 to March 2019. HFI was evaluated using an 18-item US Household Food Security Survey Module. The Beck Depression Inventory-II questionnaire was applied to determine the severity of depressive symptoms. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with elevated depressive symptoms in the study population. Results: The mean (± standard deviation) age of the study population was 28.59 ± 7.28 years. Almost 48% of participants were food insecure, and 37% experienced elevated levels of depressive symptoms during pregnancy. The prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms was significantly higher in food-insecure (P < 0.001) and unemployed (P = 0.02) women, while it was significantly lower in women with higher education levels (P < 0.001). In the adjusted model, it was revealed that HFI was significantly associated with the higher likelihood of having elevated depressive symptoms (OR = 3.31, 95% CI = 2.07, 5.29), while the higher level of education was negatively associated with the levels of depressive symptoms (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.20, 0.79). Conclusion: HFI was positively associated with the severity of depressive symptoms in a sample of pregnant women. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding. Meanwhile, routine screening of HFI for all pregnant women in the community health centers is recommended.

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Background and Objectives: Malnutrition in children is associated with decreased learning, inability to acquire skills, and physical and mental retardation. Anthropometric indicators are the most powerful tools for the assessment of the growth and nutritional status of children. The aim of the present study was to investigate the nutritional status of children within the age range of 5-6 years in the Shekoofa club (i.e., a working children club) in the 15 th district of Tehran, Iran. Methods:This cross-sectional study was carried out on 53 children. Due to the limited number of working children in the district, the study was conducted using the Census method in 2018. The required data were collected based on the children's records, anthropometric measurements, and use of the National Center for Health Statistics standard. In addition, the Z score was individually calculated for body mass index/ weight/height for age. The data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 20) and Chi-squared test at a significant level of P < 0.05. Results:A total of 25 male (47.2%) and 28 female (52.8%) children participated in the present study, respectively. In addition, out of these 53 children, 28 (52.8%) and 25 (47.2%) subjects were reported as Iranian and Afghan, respectively. The anthropometric evaluation showed that 5.7%, 7.5%, and 5.7% of the children were moderately underweight, moderately stunted, and overweight, respectively. Conclusion:The findings of this study showed that the nutritional status of the children within the age range of 5-6 years in the Shekoofa club is fairly favorable; however, due to the likely presence of micronutrient deficiencies in the studied children, it is suggested to carry out further studies to consider this issue.

Background and Objectives: One of the effective factors in improving the health of individuals and communities is having proper nutrition and improving the level of nutrition literacy, which includes the skills of acquiring, processing, and understanding nutrition information with the purpose of making appropriate decisions in this field. Considering the existence of the capacity of religious missionaries and the importance of awareness of the clerics in creating a proper culture in the field of health and to confront with the misuse of people incomplete medical and religious information, in this study, the nutrition literacy of seminary students of Qom city, was evaluated for the first time. Methods:This cross-sectional study was carried out with the participation of 176 seminary students over 18 years of age studying in the Seminary of Qom in 2019. The EINLA Adult Nutrition Literacy Questionnaire was used in this study. The height and weight of the participants, were also measured and their BMI was calculated. Results:The mean score of the nutrition literacy of the students, was 28.1 ± 3.1. The mean score was 29.2 ± 2.3 in women and 27.3 ± 4.1 in men. Most of the participants (87.5%), had adequate nutrition literacy and others (12.5%) had insufficient nutrition literacy. The highest score was related to the recognition of food groups and the lowest score was for the knowledge and skill of measuring food. There was a statistically significant difference between men and women in terms of nutrition literacy level (p = 0.001), indicating that women had better nutrition literacy compared men. No significant relationship was found between age, weight, and BMI with the participants' nutrition literacy status. Conclusion:The level of nutrition literacy in most of the participants was assessed as sufficient. There was no significant relationship between nutrition literacy status with weight and BMI.