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    • List of Articles Zahra Abdollahi

      • Open Access Article

        1 - Effect of Dezful’s Day Care Center interventional program to fight malnutrition and improvement of anthropometric indices among preschool children
        Pegah Rahbarinejad Maryam Mohamdpour Mina Minaie Farideh Nazari Zahra Abdollahi Ahmadreza Dorosty Motlagh
        One of the most important irresistible world wiles is to supply adequate and appropriate nourishment for children. According to malnutrition spectrum, undernutrition and overnutrition are placed in the two ends of the malnutrition spectrum, which carries on as a key pub More
        One of the most important irresistible world wiles is to supply adequate and appropriate nourishment for children. According to malnutrition spectrum, undernutrition and overnutrition are placed in the two ends of the malnutrition spectrum, which carries on as a key public health issue in developing countries including Iran. Under-nutrition complications including, wasting, stunting and underweight are related to delayed mental development, faltered growth and reduction of intellectual capacity. For 436 participants, anthropometric Z-scores, including weight for height Z-score (WHZ), weight for age Z-score (WAZ), height for age Z score (HAZ), and BMI for age Z-score (BAZ) were added by using Anthro V.3.2.4 and for above 5 years old using Anthro Plus V.1.04 software of the World Health Organization. All of these data classified based on WHO child growth standards guideline. In this study, SPSS was used for statistical analysis. In this interventional study of 2-6 years old children living in Dezful (in the western south part of Iran), among the total study population that surveyed, about %6 had moderate to severe wasting before the intervention which was decreased to about 5% after the intervention. Obesity and overweight did not show a significant difference based on scale. The most remarkable results to emerge from the data is that there was a significant association for the following status: Weight, height, body mass index (BMI), WHZ, WAZ, and BAZ while comparing after intervention with baseline. Whereas, there was no significant association for HAZ which is interpreted as stunting. All of the anthropometric indices were increased after intervention vs baseline. Nutritional education must be conducted more seriously for both healthcare professionals in day care centers and mothers of children. Consequently, intervention program to improve the nutritional status of children aged 2-6 years in day care centers must be promoted and continued to disappear or at least fight against malnutrition. Furthermore, due to no national studies have been planned for the nutritional status of adolescent and adult individuals, in near future, this kind of intervention should be managed for these age groups. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        2 - Comparison of the effectiveness of an intervention program to improve the nutritional status of children aged 2-6 years in Day Care Centers of East and West of Iran
        Zahra Madani Maryam Moussavi Jordi Mina Minaie Ahmadreza Dorosty Motlagh Zahra Abdollahi Fariba Babaei Zahra Abasalti Ariyo Movahedi
        Child health is very vital in all societies, which is prejudiced by the interaction of numerous factors. Pediatric healthy nutrition is one of the most imperative and influential elements in the health of children which affects anthropometric indices. In this study, the More
        Child health is very vital in all societies, which is prejudiced by the interaction of numerous factors. Pediatric healthy nutrition is one of the most imperative and influential elements in the health of children which affects anthropometric indices. In this study, the effectiveness of one meal warm food for the rural kindergarten of two main cities in the East and West of I.R. Iran Urmia and Mashhad have been carried out. In this cross-sectional study, anthropometric z scores of 5508 children (2750, Urmia vs 2758, Mashhad) were measured by using WHO Anthro and Anthro plus software based on WHO 2007 standards and analyzed using SPSS. Based on the present findings, 16% of children from West and 15% of children from the East showed moderate to severe lower weight for height. In addition, girls showed more severe underweight than boys did. BMI-for-age children from the West and the East approximately showed 14% and 15% of moderate to severe underweight and dropped to about 9% and 12% respectively. Moreover, the percentage of overweight of children in the study was lightly changed to obese especially in boys from the West. Between the two genders, male and female, overweight in girls and obesity in boys found higher than the opposite sex, and relatively similar trends have continued after the intervention in the west. This project was successful to lower moderately severe wasting in children based on body mass index from 7% to about 5% in the west and from 6% to about 5% in the east too. The slight increase in the scale of overweight and obesity and a half percent of overweight children from the west after the program was shown. Even though boys from the West showed a higher increase of obesity than girls had more overweight than boys did, but there was no change before and after intervention in the east, reduction of moderate and severe underweight found similarly in both genders. Due to the relative success of the present intervention plan, nutritional education along these kinds of projects may improve the nutritional status of children in society and prevent pediatric malnutrition. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        3 - The effect of daily meal support program on improvement of anthropometric indices in 2-6 years old children in Iranshahr, Iran
        Arefeh KhaksarJalali Amirmehdi Husseini Mina Minaie Shahla Mirlashari Zahra Abdollahi Ahmadreza Dorosty Motlagh
        Pediatric malnutrition is prevalent in developing countries including Iran. One of the most important factors that effects on children growth is nutritious food intake. This study was designed to study the effect of daily ready to use meal in 2-6 years children in dayca More
        Pediatric malnutrition is prevalent in developing countries including Iran. One of the most important factors that effects on children growth is nutritious food intake. This study was designed to study the effect of daily ready to use meal in 2-6 years children in daycare centers. 715 children have been assessed in this study and weight and height were measured before and after the 6-month intervention with daily ready to use meal. Anthropometric indices compared with WHO standards of 2007. Wasting decreased significantly from 29% to 19% in 2-5 children before and after the intervention, respectively. Also, the underweight prevalence decreased significantly from 27% to 19% in all 2-6 children. Furthermore, the prevalence of wasting and underweight in boys was more than girls. According to BMI/age Z-score, thinness prevalence lowered significantly from 23% to 15%. But height/age Z-score didn’t change significantly. The results of this study showed that nutrition intervention can improve health indicators in children suffering from malnutrition. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        4 - Association of socioeconomic status and food security with anthropometric indices among 2-5 year-old urban and rural children in Hamedan city
        Golnaz Majdizadeh Zahra Vafaei Mastanabady Zahra Zare Mena Farazi Zahra Mohammadizadeh Ariyo Movahedi Mina Minaie Zahra Abdollahi Ahmadreza Dorosty Motlagh Maryam Zarei Arezoo Kavei Hassan Hamedi
        Food insecurity is one of the issues that have a serious impact on the nutritional status of all individuals in society, especially children and given that food insecurity can be a precursor of health, developmental and nutritional problems, determining the factors asso More
        Food insecurity is one of the issues that have a serious impact on the nutritional status of all individuals in society, especially children and given that food insecurity can be a precursor of health, developmental and nutritional problems, determining the factors associated with it, is also essential in any community it seems. According to this, this study aimed to determine the relationship between food security, socioeconomic status and anthropometric indices in children 2-5 years in Hamedan city. In this analytical descriptive cross-sectional study, 683 children 2-5 years (360 boys, 323 girls) from Hamedan city and villages were selected by systematic cluster sampling methods from the Hamedan University of Medical sciences. HFLAS 9-item questionnaire to investigate food security, and also, a general questionnaire was completed through interviews with mothers of children. Also, children of anthropometric Z scores were measured by using the world health organization (WHO) Anthro software basal on WHO 2007 standards. Eventually, data were analyzed by SPSS software. According to this study, there was a significant correlation between the mother's and father's education and occupation, frequency of snack and food security with children's weight for age (p <0.05). Also, there was a significant correlation between the mother's and father's job, frequency of snack with children's weight for height (p <0.05). While BMI for age had a significant correlation with maternal education, (p <0.05). Also, height for age correlated with the mother’s education and occupation, father’s education, number of snacks and food security (p <0.05). Also, no significant difference was found between other components (p>0.05). The result of this study shown that there was a significant correlation between food security, Z score height for age, Z scores BMI for age, mother's and father's education, mother's job and socioeconomic status of the household. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        5 - An intervention Program to Improve the Nutritional Status of Children Aged 2-6 Years in Day Care Centers of East Azerbaijan Province of Iran
        Mina Minaie Fathollah Pourali Zahra Abdollahi
        Introduction: Child health is very important in all societies which is influenced by the interaction of multiple factors. Good nutrition for children is one of the most important and influential factors in the health of children in this study to evaluate the effectivene More
        Introduction: Child health is very important in all societies which is influenced by the interaction of multiple factors. Good nutrition for children is one of the most important and influential factors in the health of children in this study to evaluate the effectiveness of one meal warm food for the rural kindergarten of the East Azerbaijan Province of Iran on anthropometrics indices of children have been carried out. Method: In this cross-sectional study, anthropometric z scores of 7116 children were measured by using WHO Anthro and Anthro plus software based on WHO 2007 standards and analyzed using SPSS. Results: Based on the present findings, 8% of children showed moderate to severe lower weight for height. Also, girls showed more severe underweight than boys. BMI-for-age children from approximately 5% of moderate to severe underweight has decreased to about 3%. The frequency of normal children increased from 85% to about 86%. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were observed after the intervention reduced slightly. Also the percentage of overweight of children in the study was lightly changed to obese. Between the two genders, male and female, overweight and obesity in boys found higher than girls, and relatively similar trends have continued after the intervention. This project was successful to lower moderately severe wasting in children based on body mass index from 7% to about 5%. The slight increase in the scale of overweight and obesity and a half percent of overweight children after the program was shown. Even though boys showed a higher increase of obesity and overweight than girls, reduction of moderate and severe underweight found similarly in both genders. Conclusion: Due to the relative success of the present intervention plan, nutritional education along these kinds of projects may improve the nutritional status of children in society and prevent pediatric malnutrition. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        6 - Nutrition Knowledge, Attitude and Practice among Health Staff in Iran: the NUTRI-KAP Survey
        Ramin Heshmat Zahra Abdollahi Mina Minaei Mahsa Rostami Zeinab Ahadi Gita Shafiee Mohsen Rezaei Homami Bagher Larijani Forouzan Salehi
        Introduction: The role of diet is crucial in the prevention of diseases. Physicians and health staff can play a vital role in decreasing disease. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian health staff toward nutrition. More
        Introduction: The role of diet is crucial in the prevention of diseases. Physicians and health staff can play a vital role in decreasing disease. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian health staff toward nutrition. Methods: In a cross-sectional study on 473 health staffs of the Iranian health staff from 30 provinces of Iran were involved in this study during 2011-2012. The sampling method in this study in each province was stratified random sampling. KAP was assessed by a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Approximately 40%-90% of participants knew the main groups of food; 44%-74% of them had information about importance of micronutrients, and the knowledge of health and nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating mother was84%-88%. Health staffs’ favorite attitude toward the major food groups and micro-nutrition were 49%-90% and 26%-86%, respectively. And for the major food groups was 28%-98% and practice about health and nutritional needs of pregnant women and mothers was 80%-92%. Conclusion: This study shows health staffs need more training on some topics of nutrition in Iran. Consequently, intervention programs and nutrition education to improve employee performance in the health center is necessary. Manuscript profile