Journal of School of Public Health and

Background and Aim: The most important principles in an organization are continuous development and survival. Nowadays, creativity and innovation are vital for survival in a competitive world. The thinking style of a manager in an organization is an important factor in his/her creativity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between thinking style and organizational innovation in 84 senior and junior managers of Shiraz educational hospitals in 2008.

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study 84 top and mid-level managers of Shiraz teaching hospitals were selected by the census method. Data were collected using two standard questionnaires, one for thinking style and one for innovation, the content validity and reliability of which had been confirmed. A preliminary test showed the Cronbach's alpha for the thinking style and organizational questionnaires to be 0.83 and 0.72, respectively. Data analysis was performed using Spearman correlation test.

Results: The Spearman correlation analysis showed a statistically significant, although weak, relationship between thinking style of senior and junior managers of Shiraz teaching hospitals and their organizational innovation. A pragmatic thinking style had the strongest association with organizational innovation.

Conclusion: The thinking style of a teaching hospital manager plays a vital role in his/her creativity. No thinking style is particularly preferred any thinking style may give desirable results as regards creativity of a manger, depending on the circumstances and conditions.

Background and Aim: Obesity is now recognized as the most prevalent metabolic disease worldwide.A decrease in resting energy expenditure (REE) may increase risk of obesity. This study was carried out to compare dietary, biochemical, anthropometric and body composition parameters and physical activity in obese women with a normal and those with a low REE.

Materials and Methods: A total of 49 subjects (women, 30-50 years old), were divided into three groups: group one (obese, n = 16) with a body mass index (BMI) of 28-39.9 and a normal REE, group 2 (obese, n = 17) with a BMI of 28-39.9 and a low REE, and group 3 (n = 16) with a normal BMI and a normal REE as the control group. Anthropometric measurements, body composition, REE and fasting blood lipid profile were determined in the 3 groups. In addition, dietary intakes and physical activity were assessed using valid questionnaires.

Results: There was no significant difference in body composition between the two obese groups. However, REE was significantly lower in the obese group with a lowREE than in the other 2 groups.Energy and macronutrient intakes and physical activity were not statistically different among the 3 groups. Neither was there any significant difference between the 2 obese groups (one with a normal and one with a low REE) as regards lipid profile.

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that in some obese people the resting energy expenditure is much lower as compared to that in other obese people, although their body composition, age, sex, dietary intake, lipid profile and physical activity are not different.