Dietary patterns and depressive symptoms among Iranian women

We aimed to investigate the association between dietary patterns and depressive symptoms among 217 Iranian women aged 20-45 years. In this study, dietary intake was assessed using a valid and reliable semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. A principal component analysis was applied to detect the major dietary patterns. The Beck Depression Inventory was used to assess the depressive symptoms. Two major dietary patterns were identified: the "semi-Mediterranean" dietary pattern and the "western" dietary pattern. Participants with the "western" dietary pattern had a higher rate of depressive symptoms (p < 0.05). However, the "semi-Mediterranean" dietary pattern had no significant association with the depressive symptoms.

The Prevalence of Postpartum Depression and Its Association with Food Insecurity among Mothers Referring to Community Health Centers

Objective: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a condition which may compromise both maternal and neonatal health. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of PPD and its association with demographic, socioeconomic, obstetric, and household food security status. Method : This cross sectional study was conducted in community health centers in west of Tehran. A total of 325 women were selected by stratified sampling method from community health centers. A sociodemographic questionnaire, USDA 18-item questionnaire, and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) questionnaire were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and analytic analyses, such as chi-squared test and logistic regression in SPSS 22. Results: The prevalence of PPD and food insecurity among the studied population was 35.4% and 34.2%, respectively. The results of this study revealed a significant association among PPD and food insecurity (OR = 6.690, CI = 3.118-14.353, p<0.001), the levels of economic satisfaction (OR = 3.419, CI = 1.241-9.420, P = 0.017), pregnancy loss (OR = 1.899, CI = 1.006-3.582, p = 0.048), and pregnancy complications (OR = 1.853, CI = 1.083-3.170, P = 0.024). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, household food insecurity may predispose mothers to PPD. Moreover, it was observed that mothers with poor economic satisfaction were more likely to be depressed. Histories of pregnancy loss and pregnancy complications were other risk factors for PPD.

Malnutrition and birth related determinants among children in Qazvin, Iran

Background

Little is known about the effect of birth weight, birth order and number of siblings on the nutritional status in children in Iran, especially in Qazvin province. The aim of this study was to provide the current data on malnutrition and birth related determinants among children in Qazvin, Iran. This study was conducted in six cities of Qazvin province (Iran), during December 2009-December 2010. Data on age, weight and height were taken and birth weight, number of children in family, birth order, parental career and educational state and family caretaker were collected by a questionnaire that a trained team filled in. Sample size was1351, almost 225 children under 6-years-old from each city participated in the study (692 boys and 659 girls). In each city, subjects were randomly selected among children who had profiles at health centers. The overall prevalence of wasting, stunting and underweight was 10.3%, 5.8% and 4.8% respectively. There was association between 'birth weight' and wasting ( P = 0.022), stunting ( P = 0.032) and underweight ( P < 0.001). A non-significant association was obtained between factors 'number of children at home' and 'birth order' with wasting, stunting and underweight. These data suggest that birth weight can influence malnutrition indicators; therefore, knowing risk factors of malnutrition in population subgroups is important for planners in country because it helps the future studies concentrate on the most determining ones.

The Association Between Postpartum Depression and Pica During Pregnancy

Introduction and Objectives:

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a common disorder and social debilitating that has adverse effects on the mother, child and family. Pica is an eating disorder characterized by persistent ingestion of substances that the consumer does not define as food. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of postpartum depression with pica during pregnancy.

Method:

This is case-control study was carried out in health centers in west Tehran. 152 depressed women (case group) and 148 non-depressed women (control group) were selected randomly from these health care centers. In addition to collecting demographic and pica data, the Edinburgh Depression Scale was used. The data was analyzed by both descriptive and analytic analyses such as chi-squared and logistic regression in SPSS version 16.

Result:

In this study, there wasn’t a significant association between PPD and pica during pregnancy (P=0.153, OR=2.043, CI=0.767, 5.438), but, postpartum depression has a significant association with type (clay) (P= 0.024) and duration (more than 2 months) (P= 0.023) of pica practice.

Conclusions:

In the present study, pregnancy pica was not important risk factor for PPD but there were similar risk factors such as iron supplementation during and postpartum pregnancy with pica and PPD.

Nutritional intervention on malnutrition in 3-6 years old rural children in Qazvin Province, Iran

Malnutrition is one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity in children. Not only include acute effects on children's health, but also it has long-term effects on their cognitive development and economic growth in the society. Wasting (weight for height with Z<-1) is one of the malnutrition indices in children. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a cooked meal for 175 days on the anthropometric indices of weight, height and weight for height (wasting) of 3-6 years old children in all the rural nursery of Qazvin province, in Iran. In this interventional study, 2385 children (48.8% female and 51.2% male) were recruited. Data were collected by a census in 2010. The children were received a cooked meal based on 360 +/- 20 kcal energy, 17% protein, 53% carbohydrate and 30% fat per day for 175 days at lunch time. The anthropometric indices were collected before and after the intervention. The results were analyzed using paired t-test by SPSS V.16 software. Prevalence of wasting (mild and moderate) and (sever malnutrition) after intervention reduced from 14.2 and 0.95-12.6 and 0.5%, respectively (p < 0.05). Receiving a cooked meal significantly decreased wasting (15.2-13.2%) in all children (p < 0.05). Nutritional intervention with cooked meal for 175 days had significant reduction in wasting in all children.

The effects of low calorie diet with soy protein on cardiovascular risk factors in hyperlipidemic patients

Serum lipid abnormalities are an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease in hyperlipidemic patients. Because of the side effect of long-term medications in these patients, soy protein, as a part of healthy diet, may improve their lipid profile. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of soy protein with low-calorie diet on lipid profiles in hyperlipidemic patient. Fifty two hyperlipidemic patients of both sex and age range of 25-65 years were participated. The patients received low-calorie diet based on 1400 kcal energy 18% protein, 24% fat and 58% carbohydrate per day for 4 weeks. The treatment group received low-calorie diet including (30 g day(-1)) of soy protein. Blood samples were obtained after an overnight (12 h) fasting period before the study and in the last day of the intervention period. Anthropometric indices and levels of serum triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein were measured before and after the intervention. In groups, weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumferences were significantly reduced (p<0.05) after four weeks. In comparison with control group, the results of treatment of soy protein with low-calorie diet showed that at the end of 4th week serum low-density lipoprotein was significantly (p<0.05) decreased while an insignificant reduction was seen in total cholesterol. This study suggest that soy protein with low calorie diet for 4 weeks treatment may be safe and effective alternative therapy for diminished the cardiovascular risk factors in hyperlipidemic patients.

Production of 13C labelled pea flour for use in human digestion and fermentation studies

Stable isotope breath tests offer a new approach to the study of digestion and fermentation of carbohydrates in man. In this study, 13C labelled peas were grown by pulsing 250 ml 13CO2 into a sealed growth chamber. A second pulse was added to a portion of the peas to increase the 13C enrichment. This generated pea flour with an enrichment of 2.36 at.% excess (range 2.09-2.71 n = 3) and 8.64 atom % excess (range 7.37-9.78 n = 3) respectively. This represented incorporation of an absolute yield of 3.8% of the 13CO2 into peas in the 'once-labelled' treatment and 7.5% in the 'twice-labelled' treatment. Ingestion of a mixture of the labelled pea flour (300 mg) by two volunteers generated measurable 13CO2 excretion for breath test analysis. The profile of breath 13CO2 enrichment increased to a maximum within three hours after consuming the pea flour followed by a decrease almost back to baseline by 13 hours. Breath 13CO2 appeared to rise again after this apparent nadir at 13 hours until the end of the sampling period. Mathematical analysis of the data suggested that two peaks best described the profile of breath 13CO2 up to 13 hours. A third peak was necessary to describe the late rise in breath 13CO2 enrichment. This use of 13C enriched pea flour may provide a useful non invasive method for measurement of digestion and fermentation in vivo.