Public participation in confronting natural disasters in Khuzestan

Community participation is one of the important bases of disaster management in confronting natural disasters. Khuzestan is one of the most important border provinces in the country that is highly prone to natural disasters. This research aimed to determine the status of people's participation in Khuzestan to respond to natural disasters from the viewpoints of officials. This study was conducted in four stages. First, the status of the province was evaluated regarding the occurrence of natural disasters. In the second stage, the province situation is addressed from the perspectives of related organizations, institutions and active NGOs in disasters. By using qualitative study and in-depth interviews in the third stage, the officials' views on how to attract people to participate in confronting natural disasters was collected. In the final stage, after analyzing the obtained results, some strategies are presented in order to use these guidelines and recommendations and also to prevent the probable human casualties and damage in future disasters. According to the managers' different views about disaster management issues and lack of a common terminology to apply in this field, the process of policymaking, coordination, planning, organizing and training has been undertaken in different ways in the organizations. Also, in the governmental system, the role of people as the most important stakeholders has not been considered appropriately which makes the governments feel more responsible for confronting natural disasters

[Prevalence of obesity and its association with demographic indices in referents to University Jahad Khozestan Clinic]

The studies represent the alarming global epidemic of obesity. The aim of this study was to determine association between obesity and demographic indices in over 18-years old referents to University Jahad Clinic. Subjects were 252 adult referents to clinic from Mar. 2009 to Sep. 2009. Participants including 68 males [26.9%] and 184 females [73.1%] had an average age 33.43 +/- 13.56 years. Anthropometric measurements [height and weight] were obtained according to standard protocol. The body mass index [BMI] was also measured. Overweight and obesity were defined according to BMI =25 - 29.9 and BMI > 30, respectively. The ages of participant categorized to 3 groups: 18-30, 31-50, 51-80 years old. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS 17 using descriptive statistics, T-test and chi square. A prevalence of overweight and obesity were 30.7% and 33.6% respectively [32.6% and 34.9% female, 16.7% and 17.9% males]. The average BMI in females was significantly more than males [P= 0.0001]. The most prevalence of overweight and obesity were observed in 31-50 age group males and females with more than 51 years old [30.7%, 49.3%, respectively]. Twenty five percent of more than 51 years old males group and 57.9% of women in these age group were obese. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in single participants were 22.6% and 14.2%, respectively and married were 32.4% and 39.5%, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in more than 50 years old females group referring to clinic are high and the high risk age of obesity prevalence is 31-50 years old in adult males and females