Journal of School of Public Health and

  Background an d Aim : Overweight and obesity are one of the most serious health and social problems in the world today. The fact that obesity is highly prevalent among adolescents is particularly alarming, considering that the disease has many undesirable physical and mental consequences. This study examined the relationship between overweight and obesity and the quality of life.

  Materials and Methods : A total of 400 high school girl-students, selected by the two-stage cluster sampling, completed the demographic and sf-36 quality of life questionnaires. Their weights and heights were measured using the Seca scale (precision 100 g) and non-elastic tape (precision 0.5 cm) by the researcher, respectively.

  Results : The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the sample was 21.8%. The mean scores of general health, physical health, physical limitations, and social functioning were significantly lower among overweight and obese, as compared to normal, subjects. Dissatisfaction with physical fitness, not living with both parents, poor economic conditions and skipping breakfast were factors associated with a lower quality of life.

  Conclusion : Considering the high prevalence of overweight and obesity among high school girls and their significant correlations with the physical dimensions of quality of life, attention to obesity as a major health and social problem on the part of health planners and policy-makers is of utmost importance.

Background and Aim: Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common medical problems in pregnant women. Nutrition plays an important role in the prevention and control of this disease. Some studies have found a relationship between gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and food insecurity. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between food insecurity and GDM.

Material and Methods: : This case-control study included 274 pregnant women (137 GDM cases and 137 healthy controls) selected by convenience sampling. Data on the subjects’ food insecurity, demographic features and physical activity (MET) were collected by interviewing and their heights and weights measured. For the analysis of the data, the Chi-square test, independent sample t-test and multivariate and univariate logistic regression tests were used, the statistical software being SPSS 16.0.

Results: On the whole, 18.2% and 21.9% of the women in the case and control groups suffered from food insecurity, respectively. There were statistically significant differences between the case and control groups with regard to a previous history of pregnancy, a family history of diabetes in the first and second degree relatives, and a history of giving birth to a baby weighing over 4 kgs.

Further analysis of the data showed a family history of diabetes mellitus and a low socio-economic status to be independent risk factors for GDB.

Conclusion: No statistically significant difference was observed between food insecurity of the women and gestational diabetes mellitus in this study. Despite this finding, considering that there are associations between food insecurity and other types of diabetes mellitus, we recommend further studies on this subject to be able to either accept or reject the hypothesis on the association between food insecurity and gestational diabetes mellitus.