In order to teach suitable feeding and hygiene practices to a group of randomly selected Qashqa'i tribe families with 406 children aged 0 -59 months, a culturally appropriate community-based education intervention approach was used. To assess the impact of the intervention on the study group, another group of families with 405 children were randomly selected to serve as the controls. At the beginning of the intervention programme both groups of children had access to a similar diet, consisting of cereals, beans, oil, sugar, milk and yoghurt. Baseline data, age, gender, weight, height and mean arm circumference (MAC), were obtained before the intervention. Using Hubley's behavioural change model, the components of which deal with beliefs, attitudes, subjective norms and enabling factors, the research team studied the behaviour of the family members and tried to change their nutritional behaviour. This was achieved by designing a suitable education programme to be carried out for 12 months. During the programme, families were instructed to follow different methods of food preparation and cooking practices. The final data were collected 3 months after the end of the intervention programme. The results indicated that the children in the study group gained: 1·16 (SD 1·2) kg body weight, 0·033 (SD 0·05) m in height, 0·0067 (SD 0·015) m in MAC, 0·8 (SD 1) in weight-for-age Z-score, 0·97 (SD 1·7) in height-for-age Z-score and 0·28 (SD 1·8) in weight-for-height Z-score by the end of the study. The corresponding values for the control group were 0·42 (SD 1·0), 0·0167 (SD 0·047), 0·0017 (SD 0·012), 0·35 (SD 1·1), 0·56 (SD 1·5) and 0·014 (SD 1·6) respectively and the differences were statistically significant (P, 0·05). These findings suggest that educational interventions involving parents and/or other family members who might play a role in the care behaviour and care resources are important in feeding the children energy-and protein-enriched, hygienic, simple and cheap foods. Such practices could improve child growth even under conditions of poverty.

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Zinc deficiency is a health problem in many communities especially among adolescents because of pubertal growth sprout. This investigation was carried out to determine the epidemiology of zinc deficiency in junior high school students in Tehran City in 1997. This cross-sectional study was performed on 881 students (452 males and 429 females) with the mean age of 13.2+/-1.0 yr, who were selected by multistage random sampling method. Plasma, erythrocyte, and hair zinc levels were assayed by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Anthropometric and demographic characteristics were measured and recorded on a questionnaire. Dietary intakes were evaluated by a 24-h recall method. Zinc deficiency was defined as having at least two indices from indices of erythrocyte, plasma, and hair zinc below 10 microg/mL, 100 microg/dL, and 125 microg/g of hair, respectively. The results showed that zinc deficiency prevalence was 31.1% (confidence interval: 28-34.4%). Zinc deficiency was 65%, 49%, and 1.3% based on plasma, erythrocyte, and hair zinc levels, respectively. The mean +/- SD for plasma, erythrocyte, and hair zinc concentration, height-for-age, as well as weight-for-age Z scores were 95.2+/-17.7 microg/dL, 10.3+/-2.3 microg/mL, 239.4+/-54.4 microg/g, -0.40+/-0.92, and 0.12+/-0.91, respectively. As for dietary intake compared with the RDA, 50% of the subjects consumed less than 50% of their requirement for zinc RDA based on a 24-h dietary recall. Zinc intake in subjects was 7.5+/-3.7 microg, that in boys was higher than in girls. Correlation coefficients between zinc status indices were very weak. There was neither a linear nor nonlinear relationship between biochemical parameters and nutritional zinc intake. It is concluded that almost one-third to one-half of the subjects would be considered zinc deficient.

The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to determine the prevalence of caries, severe caries and gingivitis in Tehran primary-school children and to analyse the relationship between children's oral hygiene habits and prevalence of these oral health diseases. Data were collected on the oral hygiene habits of 1271 Tehran schoolchildren (637 boys, 634 girls) aged 9-13 years. Clinical examinations were performed to determine the decayed, missed and filled teeth (DMFT) and the presence of gingivitis. Total DMFT ≥ 1 was observed in 83.3% of children; 55.5% had tDMFT ≥ 4 and 87.7% had ≥ 1 site affected by gingivitis. Dental visits of 48.2% of children were limited to toothache occasions and parents' lack of belief in the importance of oral health was the most commonly cited reason (P ≤ 0.05). The source of oral health education had the strongest independent association with severe dental caries (OR = 2.35; 95% CI: 1.80-2.60); dental flossing frequency was the strongest predicting factor correlated with gingivitis (OR = 3.51; CI: 1.46-8.44). RÉSUMÉ Les objectifs de la présente étude transversale étaient de déterminer la prévalence des caries, des caries sévères et des gingivites chez des enfants du primaire à Téhéran et d'analyser la relation entre les habitudes d'hygiène bucco-dentaire des enfants et la prévalence de ces maladies bucco-dentaires. Des données sur les habitudes d'hygiène bucco-dentaire de 1 271 écoliers de Téhéran (637 garçons, 634 filles) âgés de 9 à 13 ans ont été recueillies. Des examens cliniques ont été réalisés afin de repérer les dents cariées, absentes ou obturées (CAO) et la présence de gingivite. L'indice CAO global était supérieur ou égal à 1 chez 83,3 % des enfants, supérieur ou égal à 4 chez 55,5 % des enfants, et 87,7 % d'entre eux avaient au moins un site affecté par une gingivite. Pour 48,2 % des enfants, les visites chez le dentiste se bornaient à la prise en charge des douleurs dentaires. La méconnaissance des parents sur l'importance de la santé bucco-dentaire était la raison la plus fréquemment citée (P ≤ 0,05). La source de l'éducation bucco-dentaire était le facteur indépendant le plus souvent associé aux caries dentaires sévères (OR = 2,35 ; IC à 95 % : 1,80-2,60) ; la fréquence de l'utilisation du fil dentaire était le facteur prédictif le plus important corrélé à une gingivite (OR = 3,51 ; IC : 1,44).

Background: Osteoporosis is the gradual declining in bone mass with age, leading to increased bone fragility and fractures. Fractures in hip and spine are known to be the most important complication of the disease which leads in the annual mortality rate of 20% and serious morbidity rate of 50%. Menopause is one of the most common risk factors of osteoporosis. After menopause, sex hormone deficiency is associated with increased remodeling rate and negative bone balance, leading to accelerated bone loss and micro-architectural defects, resulting into increased bone fragility.

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The authors sought to determine the profile of traditional risk factors and hematologic-metabolic parameters as well as relative risk among patients with myocardial infarction (MI). This study included 594 MI patients (70.2% men and 29.8% women) and was carried out during a period of 11 years from 1994 to 2005. Patients were analyzed by sex according to selected hematologic-metabolic parameters and risk factors. The mean age, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, total cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose were significantly different (P<.05) between men and women. The mean hemoglobin and hematocrit levels in men with hyperlipidemia (HLP) and family history of MI compared with those without these risk factors were significantly different (P<.05). Relative risks of HLP, diabetes mellitus (DM), and hypertension (HTN) for women were higher than for men in all age groups. The relative risk was 6.16 times higher for women with the 3-factor HLP, DM, and HTN combination. The results of this study confirm the important role of HLP, DM, and HTN in the occurrence of MI, especially in women.

The authors sought to investigate whether an increase or decrease of hemoglobin (Hgb) and hematocrit (Hct) levels were a predictor of occurrence of acute coronary syndrome. This retrospective case-control study included 594 myocardial infarction (MI) patients, 596 unstable angina patients, and 590 controls who were hospitalized from 1994 to 2005. Results show that prevalence of MI based on Hgb and Hct levels in anemic patients was 17.9% and 14.0%, respectively, and in patients with high levels in the normal range was 8.8% and 20.2%, respectively. A logistic regression between MI patients and controls showed that the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval of MI for patients with low vs high Hgb and mean corpuscular volume were 0.215 (0.112-0.412) and 0.368 (0.243-0.558), respectively. Anemia was an independent predictor of occurrence of acute coronary syndrome based on Hgb, while, based on Hct, both anemia and high Hct level were predictors of occurrence of MI.