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Background and objective: The third and the last stage in human growth and development is adolescence. Adequate nutrition of adolescent girls, these future mothers, is very important. The purpose of this survey was to determine association of such variables as age, age of menarche, nutritional awareness, physical activity, and family size, with the body mass index (BMI) in 14-18 year-old adolescent high school girls’ in Sari, north of Iran Materials and methods: The sample size was 240. Weight and height were measured, and BMI was calculated and compared with the 2000 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) standards. Nutritional status was determined based on BMI, the categories being underweight, normal, at-risk-of-overweight, and overweight. Information on the nutritional knowledge, physical activity, age, family size, and age of menarche were obtained using questionnaires. ANOVA and Post Hoc were used to determine differences between the variables. Results: The nutritional status of adolescent girls had no significant association with the age of menarche, nutritional knowledge, or physical activity. However, significant relationships with family size and girls’ age were found. Conclusion: The results of this survey showed that in Iran, a developing country, family size has a considerable effect on the nutritional status of adolescent girls furthermore, age was assessed to be an important factor influencing the nutritional status of adolescent girls.

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Background and objective: Malnutrition is a very common clinical disorder risk factor in elderly people, which is not diagnosed in most cases and, therefore, remains untreated. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of malnutrition in free-living elderly people and its relationship with socioeconomic factors (SEF) in the elderly subjects in Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran. Methods: To assess the nutritional status of the free-living elderly people (n=2000 using cluster sampling, 917 male/1045 female, aged>60), the standard Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was used. Socio-economic information was obtained through interviews. Results: In 42.7% of the subjects the nutritional status was satisfactory, 12.0% were malnourished, and the remaining 45..3% were at risk of malnutrition. The MNA score was associated with some of the SEF, and the proportions of malnourished subjects were higher in females, rural subjects, the illiterate, subjects living alone, and the unemployed . Prevalence of central obesity in females and males was 63.1% and 18.6%, respectively. Conclusion: The findings of this study are alarming. The government, physicians, and nutrition experts need to be aware of the problem and its dimenensions. Nutritional status was associated with some socio-economic factors. In particular, problems such as loneliness and poverty have to be addressed.

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Background and Objective: Poverty is one of the most important malnutrition risk factors. As one-third of the households headed by mothers are in the population’s lower deciles of income, their children are more vulnerable to malnutrition. This study was performed to assess the nutritional status of under-5-year old children in mother-headed households under coverage of the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation of Tehran in 2005. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study in which the sample households were randomly selected, proportionately, from 8 regions (in the northern, southern, eastern, western, and central parts of Tehran) of the Tehran Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation. In each region, all the under-5-year old children (n=137) in those mother-headed households who had active health files and whose mothers had signed the informed consent entered the study. Data were collected through interviews with mothers, using a questionnaire containing items on demographic characteristics of the household and the children’s diet history of the first and second years of life the interviewers were experienced nutrition (BSc) graduates. In addition, anthropometric measurements were made using standard methods. To determine the nutritional status, weight and height figures were compared with the US National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) standards. Data were analyzed using the Epi-info and SPSS software. Results: The findings showed that (1). The mean age of the mothers was 31 ± 4.7 years, 67% of them had 2 or 3 children, less than 10% were working, 47 % lived in rented accommodation, and their highest level of education (42%) was guidance-school education (2). About 95% of the children had been fed colostrum and 67% had been breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months of life (3). Complementary feeding and family food introduction had started for 55% and 30% of the children at a suitable age, respectively (4). The prevalence rates of underweight, wasting, overweight, and stunting were 11%, 6%, 5% and 10%, respectively (5). Based on the logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio (OR) of underweight in girls was 6.39 as compared to boys (CI 95%: 1.56-27.35), and the OR of underweight in children of illiterate or elementary-education level mothers was 6.29 as compared with the children of mothers with guidance-school education (CI 95%: 1.23-29.60). Conclusion: This study showed that the under-5-year old children in the mother-headed households suffer from different degrees of malnutrition. Programs and activities, such as mothers’ education in living skills and increasing their literacy level, as well as targeted food aid/subsidies along with nutrition education, are highly recommended to improve the present situation

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Background and objective: The debilitating nature of childhood malnutrition underlies the increased risk of chronic diseases in later life. The present study investigated the relationship between nutrient density and indicators of nutritional status in children 2 to 5 years of age in Chatroud, Kerman. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 180 children aged 24 mo to 60 mo who attended urban and rural health care centers in the city of Chatroud Kerman province, Iran. The sampling method was multi-step and the sampling strata were selected based on the urban and rural areas. Dietary, demographic, and anthropometric data was collected. Results: In the final regression model, Z scores for BMI-for-age (p = 0.033, β = 0.903) and weight-for-height (p = 0.028, β = 0.913) had positive significant correlations with nutrient density. Conclusion: This study showed that an increase in the nutrient density of the diet is associated with better nutritional status as reflected by weight-for-height and BMI-for-age values in children under 5 years of age. Keywords: Nutritional status, 2 to 5 year-old children, Dietary nutrient density

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Background and Objectives: Dietary diversity score is a nutrient intake adequacy index associated with the child growth. As mothers make the most important decisions affecting dietary patterns for their families and children, this study investigated possible relationships between the dietary diversity scores of children and mothers and the anthropometric statuses of preschool children for the first time in Iran.
 Materials & Methods: In total, 236 children and their mothers participated in this cross-sectional study. Data about mothers and children weight, height and dietary diversity scores were collected using food recall questionnaires and dietary diversity questionnaires, respectively. Then, mothers and children were categorized into good, medium and weak dietary diversity score groups based on the protocols by the United Nation Food and Agricultural Organization. Furthermore, households were categorized into three major groups (low, middle and high) based on their socioeconomic statuses.
Results: This study showed that child weight-for-age (p = 0.013) and weight-for-height (p = 0.03) included significant relationships with the mothers dietary diversity scores.
Conclusion: The better the mothers dietary diversity scores were, the more likely they were to have children with normal weight for height, weight for age and height for age values, compared to mothers with low dietary diversity scores.

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Background and Objectives: Due to the limited intakes of routine protein sources in phenylketonuria, nutritional deficiencies may occur. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess dietary intakes, blood parameters and nutritional statuses of children and adolescents with phenylketonuria.
 Materials & Methods: In total, 80 patients with phenylketonuria (42 girls, 52.5%) were included in this cross-sectional study. Using general information questionnaires, necessary information linked to nutritional and demographic indicators were collected. Patients' diets were assessed using a 3-day diet recall. Blood concentrations of phenylalanine, tyrosine, ferritin, iron, zinc, folic acid, B₁₂, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, albumin and calcium were assessed.
Results: The present study showed that the highest frequency was allocated to people with normal weight with a frequency of 57.5% based on body mass index for age. In this study, children and adolescents with phenylketonuria, who were low and normal weight, had higher serum iron levels (p = 0.006) and their calcium intake was higher (p = 0.007). Additionally, participants consumed fewer calories, zinc and vitamin B₁₂ and more fat, phenylalanine, tyrosine, iron and calcium, compared to the recommended values. The current study results showed that phenylalanine levels were higher than the acceptable levels in the majority of participants.
Conclusion: Results of this study demonstrated importance of iron supplementation for obese children and adolescents with phenylketonuria. Since the serum level of phenylalanine in these people was greater than the acceptable level, it is recommended to use necessary measures to follow and provide special diets for these patients.