Knowledge and a Perceptions of Obesity Prevention and Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables among High School Girl Student in Shahr-e-kord.

Background: Obesity is a major public health issue and the prevalence has increased in both the industrialized and developing world. Fruit and vegetable intake has been proposed to protec against Obesity. The purpose of this paper was to assess knowledge and perceptions of obesity prevention and consumption of fruits and vegetables among high school girl students in Shahr-ekord. Methods: This descriptive- cross-sectional survey was done on 308 high school girl students, aged 13-14 years, who were selected, based on a simple random selection method from eight schools. Data collected using a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and researcher-made Questionnaire were based on Health Belief Model. Finally, data collected were analyzed by SPSS16. Results: The findings showed the mean score of knowledge was 39.14±20.40, perceived susceptibility: 31.65±16.40, perceived severity: 36.31±20.02, perceived benefit: 42.69±19.55 and perceived barriers was 40.50±18.59. There was a statistically significant and direct relationship between knowledge and perceived susceptibility and perceived benefit. The number of consumed units per day for fruits was 1.42 and the number of consumed serving per day for vegetables was 1.46. Also there was a statistically significant and indirect relationship between BMI of students with fruit and vegetables intake. Conclusions: The low level of appropriate practice of fruit and vegetable consumption by students in the study area needs to be improved by health workers and teachers via the mass media, health talks and one-on-one health education of students.

Effects of progressive muscular relaxation training on quality of life in anxious patients after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Background & objectives: Evidences suggest that relaxation therapy may improve psychological outcomes in heart patients. We evaluated the effect of progressive muscular relaxation (PMR) training in decreasing anxiety and improving quality of life among anxious patients after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). Method: This study was an open uncontrolled trial. The sample included 110 anxious patients referred to the cardiac rehabilitation clinic of Tehran Heart Center, Tehran, Iran, during six weeks after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Patients were allocated to receive both exercise training and lifestyle education plus relaxation therapy (relaxation group; n=55) or only exercise training beside lifestyle education (control group or the recipient of usual care group; n=55). Duration of the relaxation therapy was 6 wk and in the case of usual care was 8 wk. Both the groups were followed up one month after completion of intervention. Anxiety and quality of life in the two treatment groups were compared. Results: There were no signifi cant differences in overall QOL, state anxiety and trait anxiety scores between the two groups before intervention. Signifififi cant reductions in state anxiety (P<0.01) and trait anxiety (P<0.01) levels were observed in relaxation group after intervention compared to control group. Women had high state anxiety and a low quality of life than men in the two groups before intervention. After intervention, there was no difference between men and women in the relaxation group. Interpretation & conclusions: Our fi ndings show that progressive muscular relaxation training may be an effective therapy for improving psychological health and quality of life in anxious heart patients.

Gastro-esophageal reflux symptoms and body mass index: no relation among the Iranian population.

An association between obesity and symptoms of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) has been frequently reported in western societies. A recent study indicated a consistent association between abdominal diameter and reflux-type symptoms in the white population, but no consistent association in the black population or Asians. It is unclear whether an association persists after adjusting for known risk factors of GERD among Asian populations. We did a population-based, cross-sectional interview study to estimate the strength of association between body mass and symptoms of reflux. During interviews, participants completed a valid gastro-esophageal reflux questionnaire. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI), calculated by logistic regression with multivariate adjustments for covariates, were the measures of association. Symptoms of reflux at least once a week over the past 3 months were reported by 522 (9.1%) of the 5733 interviewees. Among those who were overweight or obese (BMI> 25 kg/m2), the OR of having symptoms of reflux was 0.88 (95% CI: 0.66-1.16) compared with those who were not overweight or obese. Thus, among Asians, symptoms of GERD occur independently of body mass index.