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Background and objectives: Malnutrition among adolescents is not only an important health problem but also an economic development issue in Iran and other developing countries. High incidences of nutritional deficiencies and poor eating habits during adolescence may lead to undesirable concequences in later years, including osteoporosis, obesity, hyperlipidemia, sexual maturation delay, and a shorter adult stature. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between some food factors with the weight status in high school adolescent girls in Semnan. Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional study, using the two-stage random sampling method, 256 girl students 14-18 year old were randomly selected from 8 Semnan high schools. Weight and height were measured and BMI was calculated. The weight status was defined on the basis of BMI-for-age, using the CDC 2000 standards. Data on 24-hours recall, food record, and food frequency were collected using standard questionnaires. Results: Underweight, overweight, and obesity were present in 5.9% (expected 5%), 11.7% (10%), and 4.7% (5%) of the subjects, respectively. The data also indicated that there were significant relationships between the BMI percentile and the daily fat intake (p=0.003, r=+0.18), energy percent from fat (p=0.04, r=+0.01) and weekly fast food frequency (p= 0.026, r=+0.139). Similarly, there was a significant relationship between the daily snack frequency and weight status ( p=0.023). The daily energy, carbohydrate, and protein intakes, energy share of macronutrients except fat, meal frequency, and the fruit and vegetable, red meat, dairy products except cheese, and cocoa intakes had no significant relationships with the weight status. Conclusion: Daily fat intake, percent of energy from fat, frequency of fast food intake, and snack intake had significant relationships with the weight status of high school adolescent girls in Semnan. Nutrition education and correction of food habits could help to improve the nutritional status of adolescent girls.

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Background and Objectives: Due to the increasing incidence of overweight and obesity among rural children, despite the high prevalence of underweight, identification of dietary patterns and their association with weight status can provide valuable information about health of children. This study was conducted to detect major dietary patterns and their relationship with weight status in school age children in rural areas of Bijar, Iran

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 255 rural school age children living in the rural areas of Bijar were selected by simple random sampling. Dietary intakes during the past year were examined by a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Assessment of anthropometric indicators, physical activity, and socioeconomic information was performed by standard methods. Dietary patterns were determined using factor analysis, and their relation to weight status of children was investigated.

Results: Three major dietary patterns, "traditional", "modern" and "mixed" were identified. There was no significant adjusted relationship between overweight or obese and identified dietary patterns. After adjustment for age and physical activity, individuals in the highest quartile of the traditional dietary pattern score were more likely to be overweight or obese (OR = 4.33, CI 95%: 1.14 -16.46). More adherence to modern dietary pattern resulted in a significant increase in the odds ratio of severe thinness and thinness (P for trend = 0.04).

Conclusion: Modern and mixed dietary patterns next to the traditional dietary pattern can be found among rural children. While following the traditional dietary pattern probably due to higher energy is associated with an increased risk of obesity, modern dietary pattern leads to thinness in rural areas.

Keywords: Dietary pattern, Rural, Children, Weight status