Effects of zinc supplementation on subscales of anorexia in children: a randomized controlled trial

This study aims to assess the effects of zinc supplementation on improving the appetite and its subscales in children. This study was conducted in 2013 in Isfahan, Iran. It had two phases. At the first step, after validation of the Child Eating Behaviour Questionaire [CEBQ], it was completed for 300 preschool children, who were randomly selected. The second phase was conducted as a randomized controlled trial. Eighty of these children were randomly selected, and were randomly assigned to two groups of equal number receiving zinc [10 mg/day] or placebo for 12 weeks. Overall 77 children completed the trial [39 in the case and 3 in the control group]. The results showed that zinc supplement can improve calorie intake in children by affecting some CEBQ subscales like Emotional over Eating and Food Responsible. Zinc supplementation had positive impact in promoting the calorie intake and some subscales of anorexia

Methodology and early findings of the fourth survey of childhood and adolescence surveillance and prevention of adult non-communicable disease in Iran: the CASPIAN-IV study

The fourth survey of the surveillance system named ''childhood and adolescence surveillance and prevention of adult non-communicable disease'' [CASPIAN-IV study], was conducted among a national representative sample of Iranian students. This paper describes the methods and early findings of this survey. This nationwide school-based study was conducted in 2011-2012 in 30 provinces of Iran among 13,486 students, 6-18 years [6640 girls, 75.6% from urban areas] and one of their parents. Mean age of students was 12.5 years. Based on the World Health Organization growth curves, 12.2% were underweight, 9.7% overweight and 11.9% were obese. Abdominal obesity was observed in 19.1% of students. The dominant type of cooking oil in urban families was liquid oil and hydrogenated fat [39% and 32%], most rural families used hydrogenated fat [53%], respectively. A total of 18% of students had at least 30 min of daily physical activity; 41% of students used computer in weekdays and 44% used it in weekends. Almost 34.5% of students reported to have at least one cigarette smoker and 21.5% reported to have a waterpipe smoker in their relatives. Moreover, 20.3% of students reported that they had suffered an injury needing the help of school health providers during the year prior to the study. Current evidence on the health risky behaviors among Iranian children and adolescents confirms the importance of conducting comprehensive surveillance surveys to identify health risk behaviors. Data of this survey and the trend of variables provide necessary information for health policy makers to implement action-oriented interventions

Major dietary patterns and their associations with overweight and obesity among Iranian children

Increasing prevalence of obesity is a major health concern. Lifestyle behaviors and diet play an important role in developing childhood obesity. The aim of this study was to determine the association between major dietary patterns and overweight/obesity in a group of Iranian school-aged children. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Isfahan, Iran with 637 elementary school-aged children. A semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire was used to assess usual dietary intakes. Data on socio-demographic, physical activity and other lifestyle habits were collected using standard questionnaires. Obesity was determined based on national cut-offs. Factor analysis was used for identifying major dietary patterns. Three major dietary patterns were extracted; "Healthy," "Western," and "Sweet-Dairy." After adjusting for confounders, girls in the second quartile of healthy pattern, were more likely to be overweight [odds ratio [OR] =2.23, Confidence intervals [CI] =1.003, 4.96] compared to those in the highest quartile. Likelihood of being overweight was lower for girls in the second quartile of western dietary pattern versus the fourth quartile [OR = 0.46, CI = 0.21, 1.01]. Accordingly, lower adherence to sweet and dairy pattern was associated with lower body mass index [BMI] among girls [OR = 0.42, CI = 0.21, 0.85]. There was no significant relationship between western and sweet-dairy pattern with BMI among boys, however, significant association was observed between lowest and highest quartiles of healthy pattern [OR = 0.36, CI = 0.15, 0.84]. We found significant associations between the three dietary patterns and obesity among girls. Only healthy pattern was related to weight status of schoolboys. Longitudinal studies will be needed to confirm these associations

Effects of six weeks of beta-alanine administration on VO[2] max, time to exhaustion and lactate concentrations in physical education students

Supplementation with beta-alanine has been proposed to improve performance in some exercises such as cycling and running. Also, it has been demonstrated that great deals of proton ions are produced in the skeletal muscles during exercise that result in acidosis, whereas beta-alanine may reduce this effect. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the effects of alanine supplementation on VO[2] max, time to exhaustion and lactate concentrations in physical education male students. Thirty-nine male physical education students volunteered for this study. Participants were supplemented orally for 6 week with either beta-alanine [5*400 mg/d] or placebo [5*400 mg dextrose/d], randomly. VO[2] max and time to exhaustion [TTE] with a continuous graded exercise test [GXT] on an electronically braked cycle ergometer; and serum lactate and glucose concentrations were measured before and after supplementation. Supplementation with beta-alanine showed a significant increase in VO[2] max [P<0.05] and a significant decrease in TTE and lactate concentrations [P<0.05]. A significant elevation in lactate concentrations and a non significant increase in TTE were observed in placebo group. Plasma glucose concentrations did not change significantly in two groups after intervention. It can be concluded that beta-alanine supplementation can reduce lactate concentrations during exercise and thus can improve exercise performance in endurance athletes