Comparison of knowledge, attitude and practice of Urban and rural households toward iron deficiency anemia in three provinces of Iran

Background: Lack of nutritional knowledge is one of the most important reasons of nutritional problems and consequently improper practice, which can lead to several complications. This study has been designed in order to compare knowledge, attitude and practices of the urban and rural households regarding iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in Boushehr, Golestan and Sistan & Balouchestan provinces in 2004. Methods: The sampling method at household's level in each province was the single-stage cluster sampling with equal size clusters. The necessary data were gathered with a structured questionnaire and via the interviews between the questioners and the eligible people in each household. Comparison of frequency of variables between urban and rural areas were tested by chi square test. Results: A total of 2306 households were selected as overall sample size. In urban areas, people recognized iron food sources better than rural areas. Knowledge level of respondents about vulnerable group for IDA and the favorite attitude of households toward IDA were better in urban areas of Sistan & Blouchestan and Golestan provinces. In Sistan & Balouchestan and Golestan, rural households who drank tea immediately before or after meal was more than urban ones. The majority of pregnant and lactating mothers (except for rural areas of Bushehr) did not take iron supplement regularly. Less than 60 percent of children used iron drop regularly. Conclusion: Knowledge, attitude, and practice levels of households toward IDA were not acceptable. One of the best ways of improving nutritional practice is nutritional education with focus on applying available food resources

Principles of university open spaces design based on vitality model and promotion of training

Background and Objectives:Today, the issue of teaching and learning patterns and group activities is one of the issues of interest in areas related to education in universities. How to achieve teaching-learning patterns has gained a special place among experts. In recent years, due to the increasing growth and scope of changes in educational methods, adapting the learning environment to all aspects of learner needs, has been the focus of education professionals. Because the physical environment, due to its structure, can strengthen or weaken the interactions and subsequent learning process, it is believed that new approaches are required for movement, teamwork and student dynamism. Therefore, defining the needs and how to organize the context in which such learning can emerge is of particular importance. Considering the effect that academic spaces can have on the audience and users of these spaces, the present study aims to provide guidelines for designing open university spaces based on increasing the vitality and social interactions among users and improving the level of education among them. The present research tries to identify the factors affecting the promotion of vitality and social interactions from the users' perspective, drawing the correlation between these factors in an analytical model. In the current study, both quantitative and qualitative research methods have been used. Method and Materials: After formulating the contents of the content table and the questionnaire, the sample size based on Klein's views reached 341 according to the number of questionnaires. Therefore, students from architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and civil engineering at Iranian universities were randomly selected by cluster sampling. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 22 using R factor analysis. The model was developed by Amos. Findings: The results of this research indicated that social, physical, designing and psychological dimensions of the environment are influential. Conclusion: According to the results of previous studies and the present study, the existence of social, physical, design and environmental traits in the collective spaces of the university, can facilitate the necessary conditions to increase vitality, sociability and group activities. In this way, the existence of a spatial trait in open university public spaces, by increasing the possibility of vitality, facilitates the process of creativity and innovation for researchers and leads to socialization. Also, increasing the desire to do group and group activities and the possibility of solving problems in groups leads to improving the level of education among users. A review of this research reveals the fact that human behavior, collisions, and the use of space can be influenced by space and spatial communication, and ultimately lead to social vitality in collective centers

The ontological basics of perfectionism in designing educational sites

Background and Objectives: The ultimate goal of education is the learner’s growth. Therefore, the main concern of the architects in this field is the educational environment design in accordance with the high goals of educational system. In this study, relying on the opinions of Islamic thinkers in Quranic sciences field, the teachings derived from the Holy Quran and basic components underlying the perfection has extracted. These components have proposed, as the main contents of design criteria and improving the quality of schools and educational places, in three areas of meaning, function and body to help the architects benefit from an efficient design. Materials and Methods: This study has considered as an effective fundamental research, using quantitative-qualitative methodology. The methodology, in beginning, is survey. Then, the validity of the researcher-made questionnaires and the reliability of the variables have been calculated and confirmed through Cronbach's alpha test with a coefficient of 0.764. In addition, Q factor analysis (extracting expert opinions) and R factor analysis (extracting users' interests) were also performed using spss19 software. The specialist’s statistical population includes 25 professors specialized in the fields of Islamic education, educational sciences and architecture. Next, 40 female trade school junior were selected, from Tehran trade schools, as a non-random environmental users sample. Finally, the illustrated questionnaires obtained from the views of the professors were prepared and analyzed. Findings: After 990 minutes of interviews with specialized professors of Shahid Rajaee University, Tehran University, Science and Technology University and Imam Khomeini international University of Qazvin, two-stage coding and extraction of effective categories were done to prepare a researcher-made questionnaire with 40 items. According to the results of the factor analysis, the following three factors have detected; 1- Physical characteristics of educational buildings as a factor of human spiritual excellence, 2- Introversion as an effective factor in human self-knowledge and self-construction, 3- Extroversion as a factor in regulating environmental conditions and natural areas of human perfection from the view of the specialists. Then, the users’ illustrated questionnaires in 9 different educational fields with 3 quality grades, have distributed among users. Conclusion:: The students’ identified needs, regarding the meaning and spiritual growth, "creating peace and security, a sense of satisfaction, increasing thinking power, fostering creativity and increasing responsibility." In the ​​function field, the following issues are supposed to have taken into account: "individualized places, observance of hierarchy, flexibility, social interactions, multifunctional spaces and the cultivation of sensory powers". In the body field, "observance of diversity, attention to details, scalability, beauty and connection with nature" should have given priority in designing the school and campus. Therefore, based on these identified variables, the obtained correlation model of the factors making students' spiritual excellence in school design is specified through: 1- body design with considering growth factor characteristics, 2- human self-knowledge and self-construction, 3- nature and environment. Therefore, considering the important role of the body and especially the characteristics of the school environment in the growth of students' talents, the optimal design of educational environments is clearly effective to make a suitable ground for their spiritual growth. ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS©2021 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers. ====================================================================================

Perceptual-behavioral impact of neighborhood open spaces on student health

Open urban spaces and contemporary urban neighborhoods are not compatible with the physical and mental characteristics of Iranian male and female students. The per capita restriction of educational spaces in schools threatens the quantitative and qualitative limitation of contemporary residential homes and the prevalence of students' environmental lifestyle machine health patterns. Symptoms such as students' high dependence on horseback riding from home to school, construction of schools without desirable open spaces, expansion of apartment living and housing at least without yard and desirable open spaces, continuous TV viewing, excessive computer use, nutrition patterns Unhealthy and the prevalence of phenomena such as overweight and obesity, social avoidance and depression of some students are a confirmation of the problem of students' environmental health.In such a situation, improving urban environments and redeveloped spaces can be effective in changing some unhealthy patterns of students' perceptions and behaviors. The present article tries to introduce some of the planning and environmental design capabilities of residential neighborhoods compatible with the growth and physical and mental health of children and adolescents.Planning and designing pedestrian and bicycle paths from home to school, proper location and design of social schools, planning and design of access networks and connected local sidewalks, planning and design to prevent crime in the neighborhood, traffic calming And expanding neighborhood safety and tranquility, improving and developing neighborhood and neighborhood parks, designing beautiful local streets with environmental design and furniture and natural landscapes and rows of street trees, expanding mixed and diverse local uses and controlling average residential density to In order to increase the access to the services required by students and the socio-local interaction of students, practical solutions are suggested.Also, the development of specialized interdisciplinary research by programmers and environmental and transportation designers with students' general growth and health specialists is one of the proposed research fields

Association of meal skipping with subjective health complaints in children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-V study

Purpose Few studies have assessed the relationship between meal skipping with subjective health complaints in children and adolescents. The aim of our study was to determine the association between meal skipping and subjective health complaints in this population. Methods A total of 14,400 students aged 7-18 years were selected using multistage stratified cluster sampling method from 30 provinces of Iran. Data were collected as a part of the fifth national school-based surveillance program (CASPIAN-V) in Iran. Information about students' lifestyle, health behaviours, health status and health complaints were gathered through a validated questionnaire. Results The mean (standard deviation) age of participants was 12.3 (3.2) years old. Breakfast skipping was associated with increased odds of stomachache (OR 1.77, 95 CI 1.56, 2.00), backache (OR 1.68, 95 CI 1.46, 1.92), difficulty in getting to sleep (OR 1.66, 95 CI 1.48, 1.86), feeling nervous (OR 1.59, 95 CI 1.43, 1.76) and irritability (OR 1.29, 95 CI 1.02, 1.25). There were 27, 63, 58 and 107 increase in odds of headache, stomachache, backache and difficulty in getting to sleep by lunch skipping, respectively. While dinner skipping was related to 39, 59 and 52 increase in odds of headache, feeling low and difficulty in getting to sleep, respectively, it was associated with decreased odds of stomachache (OR 0.33, 95 CI 0.25, 0.44). Conclusions Our study suggests that meal skipping is associated with some somatic and psychological health complaints among children; therefore, regular meal consumption, at least three times a day, is highly recommended in this population

Association of meal skipping with subjective health complaints in children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-V study

PURPOSE: Few studies have assessed the relationship between meal skipping with subjective health complaints in children and adolescents. The aim of our study was to determine the association between meal skipping and subjective health complaints in this population. METHODS: A total of 14,400 students aged 7-18 years were selected using multistage stratified cluster sampling method from 30 provinces of Iran. Data were collected as a part of the fifth national school-based surveillance program (CASPIAN-V) in Iran. Information about students' lifestyle, health behaviours, health status and health complaints were gathered through a validated questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean (standard deviation) age of participants was 12.3 (3.2) years old. Breakfast skipping was associated with increased odds of stomachache (OR 1.77, 95 CI 1.56, 2.00), backache (OR 1.68, 95 CI 1.46, 1.92), difficulty in getting to sleep (OR 1.66, 95 CI 1.48, 1.86), feeling nervous (OR 1.59, 95 CI 1.43, 1.76) and irritability (OR 1.29, 95 CI 1.02, 1.25). There were 27, 63, 58 and 107 increase in odds of headache, stomachache, backache and difficulty in getting to sleep by lunch skipping, respectively. While dinner skipping was related to 39, 59 and 52 increase in odds of headache, feeling low and difficulty in getting to sleep, respectively, it was associated with decreased odds of stomachache (OR 0.33, 95 CI 0.25, 0.44). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that meal skipping is associated with some somatic and psychological health complaints among children; therefore, regular meal consumption, at least three times a day, is highly recommended in this population. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: V, cross-sectional descriptive study

Comparison of knowledge, attitude and practice of urban and rural households towards nutritional factors related to osteoporosis and osteopenia

Background & Objectives: The aim of this study was carried out to compare knowledge, attitude and practice of urban and rural households towards osteopenia and osteoporosis in Golestan, Sistan & Balouchestan and Boushehr provinces in Iran. Methods: single-stage cluster sampling was used. The questions about knowledge about, attitude toward and practice of nutritional factors related to osteopenia and osteoporosis were asked by a structured interview. Results: A total of 2306 households have been selected as overall sample size. Knowledge level of urban households about calcium as a preventive factor of osteoporosis & osteopenia was more in Sistan & Balouchestan, Golestan and Boushehr provinces. Knowledge level of urban households about calcium food courses: (Milk, Yogurt, Cheese and Dairy alternatives) was also better than that of rural habitants (P). Consumption of pasteurized milk had been paid more attention in urban households (P<0.001). The difference of daily milk intake in rural and urban households with pregnant or lactating women was not significant. Exposure of infant to sun as preventive factor was not satisticaly significant between rural and urban habitants. Conclusion: It is concluded that the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of rural households toward osteoporosis and osteopenia was weaker than urban households