Background: Research in the past decade has revealed average to poor menstrual health among many Iranian girls. The present study investigated the effectiveness of a health promotion project on improving menstrual health in adolescent girls in Iran. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the health intervention program. A total of 698 students (study participants and controls) in several schools in Mazandaran province, Iran were included. The project comprised 10 two-hour educational sessions. Educational topics included the significance of adolescence, physical and emotional changes during adolescence, pubertal and menstruation health and premenstrual syndrome. A self-administered questionnaire measuring demographic characteristics, behaviors during menstruation, menstrual patterns, sources of information about menstruation and personal health data was administered. The questionnaire was administered to all participating students after the experimental group received the training. Results: Among the most significant results was the impact of educational sessions on bathing and genital hygiene. A total of 61.6% in the experimental group compared with 49.3% in the control group engaged in usual bathing during menstruation (p = 0.002). Individual health status was significantly statistically correlated with menstrual health. Attitude towards menstruation was also significantly related to menstrual health. Conclusions: The present study confirms that educational interventions, such as the health promotion project in this study, can be quite effective in promoting menstrual health.

Background: Adolescence is an important stage in human life span. Physiologic changes associated with puberty manifest themselves in often complex and bizarre ways to which girls show different reactions. This study aims to explore to puberty experiences in adolescent girls who live in the city of Sari in Iran. Methods: The present study is a qualitative study of content analysis. Sampling took place in the city of Sari, Iran and was objective focused in accordance with qualitative studies. Participants were 38 girls of 12–20 years old who had at least experienced 3 menstrual cycles. Data was collected by means of focus group and in-depth interviews. Results: As follows, Seven main themes were extracted from the interviews are follows: Menarche as the most unpleasant event in puberty, getting nervous about and ashamed of bodily changes, psychological changes, discordance with parents, sexual orientation and the need for education on this issue, scholastic dysfunction and religious considerations. Conclusion: The results showed that for the majority of the participants puberty was an unpleasant experience. Most of them were in need of education on how to go about the issues surrounding puberty. The society, families and of course the adolescents themselves are responsible to work together in order to create an atmosphere in which correct information on puberty and the associated issues are readily accessible.

Background: Obesity and overweight are among the most common and serious health issues in many countries, leading to numerous medical consequences such as heart disease, hypertension, fatty liver etc. This review article addressed the prevalence of obesity and overweight in Iranian students by using meta-analysis.Methods: A number of domestic and international databases were searched, including IranMedex, Magiran, SID, Scopus, PubMed, IranDoc, Web of Science and Google Scholar. Eligible publications were 160 articles that addressed the prevalence of obesity or overweight. Data were combined using random effects model. Heterogeneity of the studies was examined by Q statistics and the I²index. Data were analyzed using STATA version 11.1.Results: In the 160 reviewed studies, a total of 481,070 individuals (6–20 years) were included. The prevalence of obesity among Iranian students based on body mass index (BMI) was 11% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10%–12%) (in girls 8% [95% CI: 7%–10%] and in boys 11% [95% CI: 10%–13%]). The prevalence of overweight in students based on BMI was 12% (95% CI: 12%–13%) (in girls 13% [95% CI: 11%–14%] and in boys 11% [95% CI: 18%–30%]). The rate of obesity was 13% (95% CI: 11%–16%) in elementary school students, 10% (95% CI: 7%–14%) in secondary school students and 7% (95% CI: 6%–9%) in high school students.Conclusions: The prevalence rate of overweight was more than that of obesity with a 1% difference. The prevalence of obesity was higher in boys, while the prevalence of overweight was higher in girls. The prevalence of obesity was higher in primary school students than in secondary school students. This prevalence was higher in secondary school students than in high school students.

Background: Depression is one of the major psychiatric disorders in the world. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of depression among Iranian school students through a meta-analysis. Methods: All national and international information databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, SID, Magiran, Medlib were searched. The search phase was performed without language and time restrictions, but the searched studies were all in Persian and English, and the sources were updated by 03.08.2020. As the selected studies had high heterogeneity, the random effects model was used. Results: In 51 studies with a sample of 537144 people, the prevalence of depression in Iranian school students was 37% (95%CI: 32, 42). In addition, the prevalence of depression in girl school students was 45% (95%CI: 25-65) and in boys was 28% (95%CI: 20-35). The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe depression in school students is 31%, 18% and 11%, respectively. Also, the prevalence of depression in primary school students was 12%, middle school students 32%, high school students 47% and pre-university students 46%. Conclusions: About a third of Iranian school students suffer from some degree of depression, and the prevalence of depression in girls is about twice that of boys. The prevalence of mild depression among school students is higher than moderate and severe depression. On the other hand, the prevalence of depression in school students from primary to pre-university level is increasing, which is very worrying.

Background: Osteoporosis in the elderly has dangerous complications, the most important of which are bone fractures and reduced quality of life in the elderly. The present study was aimed at estimating the prevalence of osteoporosis in Iranian elderly using systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: This search was conducted using authentic Persian and English keywords in national and international databases including Scientific Information Database, Magiran, IranDoc, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, Embase, and Web of Sciencewith no time limit until 20.06.2020. Heterogeneity of studies was assessed using I² index. Data were analyzed using STATA Ver. 15 software. Results: In 30 studies with a sample size of 13,347 people, the prevalence of osteoporosis and low bone density in people over 60 years in Iran were 34% (95% CI: 27%, 42%) and 47% (95% CI: 41%, 53%), respectively. We also found that 34% of women and 41% of men over the age of 60 suffer from osteoporosis. Prevalence of osteoporosis was in lumbar bone 23% (95% CI: 20%, 26%), spine 25% (95% CI: 19%, 31%), hip 35% (95% CI: 7%, 62%), and femur 23% (95% CI: 15%, 31%). Prevalence of low bone density was in lumbar bone 41% (95% CI: 19%, 63%), spine 30% (95% CI: 15%, 46%), and femur 35% (95% CI: 21%, 48%). Conclusion: The prevalence of low bone density in people over 60 years is higher than the prevalence of osteoporosis in them. About one-third of Iranian elderly people suffer from osteoporosis, but about half of them have low bone density.