ABSTRACT
Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the food safety knowledge and behavior of housewives in the city of Tehran, Iran in 2015
Materials and Methods: In this qualitative study 12 Focus Group Discussions by directed content analysis method [n= 96], were conducted among the women who were responsible for food handling in their households in 10 health centers. Each session was held with 7-10 participants, and their voices were recorded. The final transcripts were read to obtain categories until developing themes by using constant comparison method
Results: Three categories in nine themes were emerged as follows: 1] Personal hygiene and poisoning [Washing hands as priority in personal hygiene]; 2] Food safety, preparation and storage [Inadequate knowledge about proper time for boiling raw milk, Lack of awareness about temperature of refrigerator, Incorrect storage of food in the refrigerator, Storage of unwashed and unpacked eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator, Thawing frozen raw meat and chicken at room temperature, Incorrect separation and sanitization of cutting boards for fresh vegetables, raw meat, chicken, and Inappropriate washing of fresh leafy vegetables]; and 3] Safety of cooked foods [Improper reheating of leftover foods]
Conclusions: The findings of this study illustrated that there was lack of knowledge about food safety. It was evident that the majority of the participants were not familiar with appropriate practices to prevent cross contamination and food handling. Therefore, home food safety education should be conducted for housewives
ABSTRACT
Height measurement is an important part of nutritional assessment especially in children. However, in such cases as hospitalized or certain kinds of malformations or disabilities, height cannot be measured accurately. We aimed to determine appropriate height predictors in Iranian healthy children for further use in disabled and/or hospitalized children. A total of 730 apparently healthy children aged 7-11 years old from both sexes from Tehran, Meshed and Rasht were enrolled in a cross sectional study. Height, demispan [DS], halfspan [HS], arm length [AL] and tibia length [TL] were all measured using a measuring tape. Linear regression models were established between height, DS, HS, AL and TL. For boys AL [R[2]=0.783] and TL [R[2]=0.837] and for girls AL [R[2]=0.720], TL [R[2]=0.765], HS [R[2]=0.771] and age [R[2]=0.775], respectively, entered the linear regression model. When height predictors were evaluated individually for each city, only in Tehran DS also entered the regression model. Concordance of different percentiles of height estimates based on AL with those of actual height proposed this measure as a reliable height proxy for this age group in clinical as well as field practice