Analysis for policy to overcome barriers to reducing the prevalence of vitamin a deficiency among children (15-23 months) in Iran.

BACKGROUND: About 30% of children < 5 years old are estimated to experience vitamin A deficiency worldwide. Globally, vitamin A deficiency can be reduced by five major interventions: supplementation, dietary modification, fortification, promotion of both public health, and breastfeeding. This prospective policy analysis (Prospective policy analysis focuses on the future outcomes of a proposed policy. Adapted from Patton, CV, and Sawicki DS. Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning, Prentice-Hall, Inc. New Jersey,1993). (Patton A, Carl V, and David S. Basic methods of policy analysis and planning, prentice-hall, 3th ed. 2012) aimed to identify evidence-based policy options to minimize prevalence (VAD) among 15-23 months-children in Iran. METHODS: Thirty-eight semi-structured face-to-face interviews were held with experts at high, middle, and low managerial levels in Iran's health system, as well as at Schools of Nutrition Sciences and dietetics, using purposive and snowball sampling. All interviews were recorded by a digital voice recorder and then transcribed, codified, and eventually analyzed using a mixed approach (inductive-deductive) by MAXQDA software version 10. RESULTS: Most policies related to VAD reduction in this age group are supplementation, expansion of education, and awareness. Three main factors affecting VAD reduction policies emerged from the analysis: basic factors (governance, infrastructure, and organization), underlying factors (social factors, economy), and immediate factors (services). Due to its cross-sectoral nature, evaluating the results of the implementation of this policy requires strong and coherent inter-sectoral cooperation. The existing primary healthcare network (PHC) is a crucial means for successful implementation of policies to address VAD in Iran. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to supplementation and assistance in this age group, other policies should be also planned to reduce VAD in various regions. In addition to the Ministry of Health & Medical Education (MoHME), other actors need to be involved, we advocate, throughout the entire policymaking process of policy-making to reduce VAD in Iran.

Peace, Health, and Sustainable Development in the Middle East.

BACKGROUND: As two essential human rights, as well as pillars of sustainable development, health and peace are closely interrelated. Further, health and well-being are the focus of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, while peace lies at the heart of SDG 16. This paper investigates the relationship between the three concepts of health, peace and sustainable development in the relevant literature. METHODS: This is a qualitative study. Following the establishment of the construct of peace and health through consultation with three key informants (one health sociologists, one high-ranking diplomat, and one health policy maker), we conducted a scoping review of the literature, followed by purposefully obtained grey literature, i.e. UN and country reports. As a result, 30 documents, including journal articles, were identified. We used content analysis to extract themes and categorize them in line with the relevant SDGs. RESULTS: Lack of peace has direct and indirect impact on health, as well as health workers, the civil society, and the whole community who have in turn a critical role in creating peace. Strong and resilient health systems are essential in reaching out to citizens during war, while achieving SDGs would be impossible if SDG 16 is compromised. Health and peace are interchangeable, and achieving either is impossible without the other. CONCLUSION: Physicians and other human resources for health are the key actors in peaceful environment to attain health for all. In the absence of peace, the resilience of health system will be threatened and the hope for sustainable development may fade.

Vitamin A-Related Policies in Iran: Document Analysis.

BACKGROUND: There are one-third of children in the world with Vitamin A deficiency. The prevalence of vitamin deficiency in children aged 15-23 months in Iran has increased 18 times and in rural areas. The present article aims to an analysis of related documents to the existing policies on this vitamin in our country. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a descriptive study using a quantitative content analysis approach to analyze nutritional policy documents. RESULTS: We extracted six themes at the first stage of analysis (based on common policies in the world), which were reduced to two final themes: "Direct interventions" and "Indirect interventions." There were also six subthemes and eight issues. CONCLUSIONS: It seems that policymaking must revise these documents and also making new policy decision with more emphasis on micronutrient.

The Relationship between Intake of Dairy Products and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in Women Who Referred to Isfahan University of Medical Science Clinics in 2013.

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in reproductive women. Nearly 10% of young women in this period involved. Although factors such as Insulin Resistance, hyper insulinemia, obesity and dietary are suggested to be associated with PCOS, cause of PCOS is not completely understood. Dairy products (a key component of the usual diet) of participants can also affect the factors of this disease and may have beneficial effects on treatment of PCOS. However, research in this area is scarce. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between dairy products consumption and PCOS. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study of 400 women was conducted in Shahid Beheshti Hospital of Isfahan University of Medical Science, Iran. Dietary intake was evaluated by validated food frequency questionnaire. Other variables such as ovarian disease, inherited predisposition, age at menarche, physical activity and history of other diseases were evaluated using questionnaire. Data analysis was performed by a logistic regression test using SPSS software version 15 Predictive analytics software and solutions. RESULTS: There were a significant association between PCOS and ovarian disease (P < 0.001), age (P < 0.001) and using medication (P = 0.001). Body mass index (BMI) was inversely associated with PCOS, but it was not significant (P = 0.068). There was a significant direct relationship between milk consumption and risk of PCOS after adjusting for confounding factors (P = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicated that ovarian disease and medication use is directly linked to PCOS. Dairy consumption was not significantly correlated with PCOS. However, after adjustment for confounders, there was an direct relationship between milk consumption and risk of PCOS.