Fish consumption based on transtheoretical model among housewives

Assessing the Potential Health Risk from Mercury Through Consumption of the Most Popular and Preferable Fish Species, Rutilus frisii kutum, on the Northern Coast of Iran

Due to the importance of Caspian kutum (Rutilus frisii kutum) in the nutrition and health of consumers, a study was conducted to evaluate the concentration of mercury and its associated health risk for this species, its predators, and the people. Samples were collected from the fish at the four best-selling stations, Bandar Torkaman, Bander Anzali, Fereydunkenar, and Chalos, with mean mercury concentrations in the samples from the stations being 49.4, 132.6, 103.6, and 107.6 μg/g respectively. Mercury in the muscle tissue of the collected samples increased from east to west in the southern Caspian Basin. The mercury concentrations at all stations were below the permissible international levels for this heavy metal, suggesting no or low potential health risk. However, due to the toxicity and other harmful properties of mercury, it is necessary to monitor the values of this element as well as other pollutants in fish species to assess the health risk.

Behavioral approach to food consumption and waste production: A quasi-experimental study

BACKGROUND

Approximately one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption was wasted.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to determine the effect of intervention on behavior of food consumption and waste production in the restaurants of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this quasi-experimental study, 233 students of public health school were selected as intervention group, and 233 students of medical school were selected as control group. The food wastage was weighed in both "Sabz" and "Medical" restaurants for a week. Based on training needs of the samples, teaching methods and programs were implemented in the intervention group for a month. The clients of both restaurants were followed 4 weeks after the intervention. The food waste was weighed after 4 weeks. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 and statistical tests (Wilcoxon, Chi-squared, McNemar, and Mann-Whitney tests).

RESULTS

The results obtained from Wilcoxon test showed that, the means of awareness, attitude, and behavior were significantly improved after the intervention in the intervention and control groups (P < 0.001). After the intervention, according to the number of served foods, it was expected that the weight of food wastage to be 341.37 kg/week, but this figure was reduced to 224.98 kg/week after the intervention.

CONCLUSIONS

This study has confirmed the effectiveness of implementation of interventions on enhancement of knowledge, attitude, and behavior of people about consumption of food and amount of wastage. The authors suggest that to investigate sustainability of effect of intervention on behavior of food consumption and wastage production, this study could be implemented in different and longer time intervals after the end of project.

The effect of educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior and stages of change construct on women's physical activity

BACKGROUND

Insufficient physical activity is a global health-care problem and is considered an independent risk factor for chronic diseases. The present research aimed to explore the effect of an educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and stages of change on promoting women's physical activity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This quasi-experimental research was conducted on 68 women who voluntarily visited the health-care centers of Mashhad. They were selected by randomized multistratified sampling method and were divided into two groups of intervention (n = 34) and control (n = 34). The data collection tools included a demographic information questionnaire, a questionnaire based on the TPB and stages of change, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. The data were statistically analyzed by SPSS software version 16 using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (paired t-test, correlation coefficient, and covariance). The significance level of P < 0.05 was considered in this study.

RESULTS

No statistically significant difference was found between the intervention and control groups before the intervention in terms of the scores of the TPB constructs and physical activity (P > 0.05). However, after the educational intervention, a significant difference was observed in the mean scores of TPB constructs and physical activity (P < 0.05). In addition, no statistically significant difference was found in the stages of change between the two groups after the intervention.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study pointed to the effectiveness of educational intervention and the necessity to use educational interventions to help adopt preventive behaviors. Therefore, the use of well-established educational models rather than conventional methods is recommended.