Journal of School of Public Health and

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Background and Aim: Today cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of disability and mortality in many countries. This study was performed to determine the effect of health education based on the Health Belief Model on the knowledge, attitude and practice of housewives in Isfahan, Iran regarding improving their nutritional behavior for preventing heart disease.

Materials and Methods: This was a quasi-experimental intervention, including 68 Isfahani housewives randomly divided into an experimental (n=34) and a control (n=34) group. Data were collected using a standard health belief model (HBM) and a food-frequency (FFQ) questionnaire. The experimental group attended, after a pre-test, 6 weekly education sessions. The HBM questionnaire was completed 3 times (before and immediately, and 2 months, after education), while the FFQ questionnaire was completed twice (before and 2 months after education) by the housewives. The data were analyzed using SPSS16 software, the statistical tests being t-test, and repeated measure ANOVA.

Results: The two groups were not significantly different with regard to demographic variables. Similarly, before the intervention they were statistically similar with respect to the scores of the HBM components (P>0.05). After the intervention, significant differences appeared between the experimental and the control groups with regard to all the components (knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived efficacy, and performance in all cases, P<0.001)

Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the intervention had a positive impact on the feeding pattern of the women and was effective in increasing or improving their knowledge, attitude and practice.

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Background and Aim: The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between educational practice of volunteer health workers (VHWs) and preventive behavior of households (HH) under their coverage regarding cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) based on the BASNEF model in Yazd City, Iran

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, all the 60 VHWs in the CL-endemic regions in Yazd City were interviewed and completed a valid and reliable questionnaire designed by the investigator. In addition, from among the households under coverage of each one of the VHWs, 2 HHs were selected randomly and their heads were interviewed and completed the relevant questionnaire (total n=120). Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: There was a positive correlation between the knowledge and attitude of VHWs and knowledge of the households, as well as between the VHWs' behavioral intention and households' behavior. Further analysis of the data also revealed a positive correlation between the enabling factors of VHWs and the knowledge, behavioral intention, enabling factors and behaviors of families, as well as between educational behavior of VHWs and knowledge, attitude and behavior of the families.

Conclusion: Volunteer health workers can potentially play an important role in case-finding, prevention and timely treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. However, merely promoting their awareness of the disease will not lead to improvements in their educational behavior in the community. More effective education aiming at promoting their awareness and enabling factors, as well as developing better attitude in them, will certainly result in better behavior of households and control of the disease

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Background and Aim: Considering the importance of children's dietary patterns in the general health and vitality of the population in the future and the effect of maternal depression on performing maternal tasks  and responsibilities regarding children's eating habits and behaviors, this study was designed and conducted to determine the relationship between maternal depression and children's dietary patterns.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study included 313 primary school children in Tehran in the first semester of the academic year 2018-2019 selected through stratified cluster sampling. The following questionaires were used to collect the data: general and demographic questionnaires  related to mothers and children, the Beck standard questionnaire to assess maternal depression, and a food frequency questionnaire to assess the children’s food patterns. The SPSS-22 and Stata-13 were used to analyze the data. Using exploratory factor analysis the dominant food patterns of the children were determined. The statistical tests used for data analysis included descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients.
Results: Data analysis showed the prevalence of depression among the mothers and the dominant dietary pattern among the children to be 31.3% (n=98)  and vegetarian dietary patterns, respectively. The children’s body mass index, heights and waist circumference were significantly positively associated with with some of the dietary patterns (p<0.05). However, no significant association was found between maternal depression and the children's dietary patterns (p>0.05).
Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, maternal depression has no significant association with children's dietary patterns. Conducting similar studies with larger sample sizes are recommended.