ObjectiveThis study considers the prevalence of DM and some related factors among adults in the Golestan province (north of Iran) in 2006.MethodsThis is a Cross-sectional–Descriptive and population-based study, carried out among 1999 cases (1000 men and 999 women) between 25 and 65years old. Participants were chosen by cluster and stratified sampling in urban and rural areas. Data on socio-demographic factors were collected using questionnaire, and anthropometric and biochemical indexes were measured. Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS) equal to or over 126mg/dl was classified as type 2 DM.ResultsMean of age was 39.2years and mean±SD of FBS among men and women was 94.51±32.91 and 98.2±40.1mg/dl, respectively. Prevalence of DM was 8.3% [(men=6.8% and women=9.7%), (urban=10.5% and villages=6.4%)]. Twenty-five percent of patients were undiagnosed as whole, 43% of patients were unaware of their problem, in men more than in women (48.5% versus 39.2%) and in rural area more than in urban area (35.1% versus 54.4%). We showed a positive and significant correlation between FBS and age, waist circumference and BMI (P=0.01).ConclusionDM was the one of the biggest health problems in the north of Iran, and half of them were unaware of their morbidity. DM was influenced by socio-demographic factors

Seroepidemiologic Evaluation of Anti-toxoplasma Antibodies among Women in North of Iran

The main objective of this study is to assess the Breastfeeding Duration, Exclusive Breastfeeding Duration and other related factors among children aged less than 5 years old in rural areas of Northern Iran. This is a descriptive cross-sectional conducted on 2520 children aged 6-60 months (male: 1309, female: 1211) chosen by cluster random sampling from 20 out of 118 villages. Data were collected from mothers using a questionnaire. The duration of breastfeeding was computed only for children aged over 24 months old. Breastfeeding duration and Exclusive Breastfeeding Duration were classified based on WHO definition. SPSS Version 16 was used for data analysis. The mean Exclusive Breastfeeding Duration was 5.59 months, while 66.4% of children had exclusive breastfeeding for at least 6 months. The lowest Exclusive Breastfeeding Duration and the highest Breastfeeding Duration were observed among the Turkman ethnic group. Exclusive Breastfeeding duration of at least 5 months was 14.6%, thus the results were significantly higher than in the Turkman ethnic group (p=0.001). Meanwhile, the results showed that exclusive breastfeeding duration significantly increased with maternal education level (p=0.004). The study found that the mean breastfeeding duration was 20.6 months, and 89.3% and 74.7% of children were breastfed for at least 18 and 24 months, respectively. A positive correlation was reported between breastfeeding duration and family size, birth order, maternal age and children nutritional status, (p<0.05). Additionally, lactation period in underweight children was significantly higher than in obese children, (p=0.023). The study found that two-thirds of children exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life and the mean breastfeeding duration was 20.6 months. While both exclusive breastfeeding duration and breastfeeding duration were influenced by socio-demographic factors in the rural areas of Northern Iran.

Background: The main aim of this study is to evaluate the association between serum cholesterol level and abdominal obesity in adult men and women in the north of Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional and analytical study was conducted on the 1956 subjects (990 men and 966 women) between 25 and 65 years old chosen by cluster sampling. Plasma cholesterol was measured in the morning after a 12 h fast and determined by auto-analyzer. Hypercholesterolemia (HC) was defined by a total plasma cholesterol level over 200 mg/dl. Waist circumference ≥102 cm and ≥88 cm in men and women were defined as abdominal obesity. SPSS 16.0 software was used for statistical analysis and P < 0.05 considered as statistical significance. Results: Averagely, the mean of age was 44.2 years and mean ΁ standard deviation of plasma total cholesterol level was 203 ΁ 11.3 mg/dl. The HC was seen in 50.8% of subjects with a more common in women than in men. Compared with normal subjects, in abdominal obese people, the odds ratio (OR) of HC was (OR = 4.208 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.939-9.130]) and (OR = 3.956 [95% CI: 1.821-8.592]) in men aged 25-35 and 35-45 years, respectively. In women aged 25-35 years, it was (OR = 3.444 [95% CI: 1.959-6.056]) in abdominal obese compared with normal subjects. Conclusion: Hypercholesterolemia was revealed as a major health problem among adults, and it was associated with abdominal obesity especially in the early middle-age in the north of Iran. This association was not significant in men and women after the age of 45 and 35, respectively.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG) level and Waist Circumference (WC) in men and women among 25–65 years old people in the north of Iran. Material and methods: This was a cross-sectional and analytical research gender that carried out on the 1797 subjects (941 males and 856 females) between 25–65 years old using multistage cluster sampling technique. FBG was measured in the morning after a 12-hour fast and was determined by using laboratory kits (enzymatic methods) and spectrophotometry technique. Central obesity was defined based on World Health Organization criteria: waist circumference ≥102 cm and ≥88 cm in men and women, respectively. The SPSS.16 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: As whole, the mean of FBG in women (98.3 ± 40.1 mg/dl) was higher than in men (94.6 ± 32.2 mg/dl). Also, the mean of WC in men 4.5 cm was lower than in women. In men, the mean of FBG statistically differs between normal and central obese subjects both in 35–45 year-age group (P = 0.001) and in 45–55 year-age group (P = 0.042). As whole, in men, the FBG level increased up 2.82 mg/dl in each 10 cm of WC with the highest rate in 35–45 year-age group. In totally, in women, the FBG level increased up 3.48 mg/dl in each 10 cm of WC and in 25–35 year-age group and it was higher than in other age groups. In men, the regression coefficients were constant with age increasing while in women it was decreased. Constant trend in men and decreasing trend in women with age was shown between FBG and WC. The cut-off point of WC for detecting of diabetes obtained 89 cm and 107 cm in men and women, respectively. Conclusion: The positive correlation was seen between WC and FBG level and it was declined with age in women. Cut-off point for detecting of diabetes in men was less than in women. WC is useable as a predictor of type 2 diabetes mellitus risk among adults in the north of Iran.

The main aim of this study is to determine the central obesity trends during the period from 2006 to 2010 among 15-65 years old people in Northern Iran. This was a population-based cross-sectional study conducted on 6466 subjects who had been chosen by a multi stage cluster random sampling within five steps. The subjects were randomly chosen from 325 clusters and each cluster included 20 cases. Central obesity was defined as waist circumference ³102 cm and ³88 cm in men and women, respectively. Compared to 2010, the mean waist circumference in 2006 changed from 87.2 cm to 88.1 cm in men (p=0.237), and from 90.3 cm to 88.6 cm in women (p=0.045). The comparison between 2006 and 2010 revealed that the prevalence of central obesity slightly decreased, 6.8% and 2.4% in urban women and men, respectively. Generally, the mean of waist circumference significantly decreased in urban women (by 0.069 cm in each year; p=0.020); however, the decrease of waist circumference in urban men was not significant (0.006 cm decrease each year; p=0.915). The prevalence of central obesity declined among both males and females in the urban area; however, there was an attenuated increasing trend in the rural area. The disparity of trends between the two regions should be considered for further study.