فهرست مطالب zahra namkhah

Children and adolescents in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) represent a crucial target population for nutritional interventions. This group is particularly susceptible to making unhealthy food choices, potentially leading to long-term consequences on their growth, and overall well-being. The objective of our systematic review is to determin the effectiveness of food and nutrition literacy interventions in influencing the dietary choices of children and adolescents in the MENA region.

We conducted a systematic review following the PRISMA guideline for reporting. The Search using words such as food consumption, nutrition literacy, Middle East and North Africa and its English synonyms in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases until May 1402. 257 articles were reviewed based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and relevant information was recorded for each article. 257 articles were reviewed. After removing duplicates, titles and abstracts, and then the full text and comprehensive explanation of the working method according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, review and related information were recorded for each article. Finally, 10 articles were selected and reviewed

The studies under review showed that interventions aimed at improving nutrition knowledge had a positive impact on nutrition-related outcomes and helped combat nutrition-related health issues. In addition, the common themes were improving nutrition knowledge, increasing awareness of the benefits and drawbacks of different foods, promoting positive changes in eating habits, addressing nutrient deficiencies, managing weight and body composition, utilizing theoretical frameworks, and evaluating the effectiveness of school-based interventions.

This review highlights the significance of nutrition education in enhancing food intake and weight management. It is recommended that future interventions be targeted towards schools and families, while utilizing behavior change models to maximize their effectiveness in improving the nutritional health of children and adolescents in the Mena region.

Cinnamon is extracted from the inner bark of Cinnamomum trees. Recent studies have indicated that cinnamon is a safe and cost-effective treatment for improving body weight, lipid profiles, insulin resistance, and blood pressure. This systematic review aimed to summarize the effect of cinnamon supplementation on adipokines and appetite-regulating hormones.

This comprehensive literature search was conducted using databases such as PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar up to March 2022 without any limitation. The quality of eligible studies was evaluated through the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing the risk of bias.

This systematic review included six clinical trial studies (363 participants), among which, only one study was performed on children, and two investigations were conducted on obese participants. A decreasing effect was found in the level of leptin and visfatin after cinnamon supplementation. Two out of three studies examined adiponectin levels and revealed non-significant effects of cinnamon consumption on this parameter. Two studies evaluated ghrelin levels and found an increase after cinnamon supplementation. The result of cinnamon supplementation on other biomarkers such as glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, glucagon-like peptide 1, and resistin was inconsistent.

The result of this systematic review indicated the increasing effect of cinnamon supplementation on ghrelin levels and decreasing effect on leptin and visfatin levels. However, more clinical data are required to clarify the beneficial effects of cinnamon on adipokines levels due to the controversial findings of the studies.

Objective (s): Considering the increasing population of the elderly in developing countries such as Iran, attention to the needs of this group is essential. One of the important needs of the elderly is appropriate nutrition. Failure to recognize malnutrition in a timely manner will result in deprivation of appropriate nutrition, illness, and decrease in quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition and its related factors among the elderly covered by the Social Security Organization hospitalized in Mashhad hospitals. This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2018 on 200 elderly 60 years and older covered by Social Security Organization, hospitalized in two hospitals in Mashhad, Iran. The relationship between nutrition status and demographic, anthropometric and individual-health variables was investigated. Data were collected through a general information questionnaire and MNA questionnaire. SPSS version 24 was used for data analysis. The mean age of the elderly was 70.1±7.86 years. 25% of the elderly were at risk of malnutrition and 6% were malnourished. Malnutrition rate was higher in women and the elderly with lower BMI. The use of more than three drugs (OR=2.251 CI95%=1.015-4.989), acute disease/psychiatric stress (OR=16.152 CI95%= 6.048-43.140), neuropsychiatric problems (OR=3.908 CI95%=1.479-10.325), mobility limitation (OR=6.399 CI95%=1.446-28.317) and older age (OR=2.371   CI95%=1.007-5.582) and BMI of less than 23 (OR=9.823   CI95%=3.747-25.754) were risk factors for nutritional disturbance. Considering the importance of nutrition status and its impact on the health and quality of life of the elderly, it seems that the continuous screening and evaluation of the nutrition status of the elderly covered by the Social Security Organization is of great importance and is recommended to be placed on the agenda by the Social Security Organization.