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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Nutrition is considered as an effective factor in reducing the problems associated with menopause. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nutritional education on nutritional behavior and the number of hot flashes in perimenopausal and menopausal women. METHODS: This trial was conducted on 54 healthy married perimenopausal and menopausal women aged 45-60 years in Kaleybar city, Eastern Azerbaijan, Iran. The participants were divided into two groups using randomized blocking method. The experimental group received three sessions of 45 to 60-minute lecture weekly about nutrition and the control group received no intervention. Nutritional behavior and the number of hot flashes were recorded and investigated at baseline (before intervention), 8 and 12 weeks after intervention using nutritional subscale of HPLP-П questionnaire and a checklist, respectively (IRCT:2012111210324N6). FINDINGS: 27 participants (100%) of intervention group and 26 (96.3%) cases of control group completed the study. At baseline, mean±SD of nutritional behavior score was 14.7±3.4 in the intervention and 14.8±13.8 in the control group from attainable score of 10-40 and the difference between two groups was not significant (p=0.910). With adjusting the baseline nutritional behavior score, the score in the intervention group was significantly higher than that in control group at the end of both 8th week [(mean difference: 7.7, 95% confidence interval: 6.4 to 9.0), p0.001]. Also, after adjusting the baseline number of hot flashes, there was significant difference between two groups (control and intervention ) in terms of hot flashes in both 8 weeks [(-1.0, -1.5 to -0.4), p

BACKGROUND: Patients have a major role in the control and treatment of type 2 diabetes. So, knowledge of different aspects of this disease especially diet therapy is very important for these patients. This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the Health Belief Model (HBM) on nutrition education in type 2 diabetic patients. METHOD: Eighty eight type 2 diabetic patients attending Iranian Diabetes Association seminars were randomly selected to participate in the study (44 in intervention group and 44 in control group). The intervention was consisted of two educational sessions each one for 80 minutes. Data were collected by a validated and reliable questionnaire (58 questions) before intervention and one month after intervention. RESULTS: After intervention, knowledge scores increased in the intervention group compared to the control group (Mean differences in the intervention and test group: 22.68 ± 15.90 vs - 2.27 ± 17.30, P < 0.001). Perceived susceptibility increased significantly in the intervention group compared to the control group (27.5 ± 18.5 vs 3.9 ± 17.2, P < 0.001). The result was the same for perceived severity, perceived threatened and perceived benefits (P < 0.001). In contrast perceived barriers reduced in the intervention group compared to the control diet (-14.7 ± 13.3 vs 0.9 ± 13.9, P < 0.001). In the intervention group, behavior grades increased more than control group (34.61 ± 14.93 vs -0.23 ± 8.52, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The efficacy of the health belief model in nutritional education to the diabetic patients was confirmed in the present study.

Parents of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) seem to underestimate the importance of optimized oral health. The low priority for a good oral hygiene and a healthy diet can be a risk factor for odontogenic bacteremia and infective endocarditis. The aim of this study was the evaluation of the disease awareness and dental knowledge of the parents using a questionnaire. Therefore, parents from 107 children with CHD and a healthy control group (HCG) consisting of 101 children both aged 2 to 6 years were asked to complete a questionnaire containing items about the general health, oral hygiene behavior, preventive measures, dental visits and intake of potential drinks and cariogenic nutrition of their child. The results of the present study show that the CHD group had a poorer oral health behavior than the HCG. Healthy children brushed their teeth significantly more often (65.4%) than the CHD children (45.1%). Only 75% of CHD children used fluorides in their daily life in comparison to 86.6% of the healthy children, 8.7% of their parents neglected completely fluoride supplementation. Of all CHD children 23.1% in comparison to 8.1% of the controls had never visited a dentist before. Furthermore, the daily consumption of cariogenic food and drinks was generally higher in the CHD group. These findings demonstrate a need for improvement in parental knowledge of the efficiency of different measures to improve dental health. This important oral health for CHD children from the early stage of life is obvious, especially regarding their risk for odontogenic bacteria and infective endocarditis.

Since, the nutritional behavior is a complicated process in which various factors play the role, this study aimed at specifying the effective factors in nutritional behavior of diabetic patients based on Health Promotion Model. This paper reviews the published articles from 2000 to the beginning of 2012, using the various data banks and search engines such as PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Elsevier, and the key words" perceived benefits and barriers, perceived self-efficacy, social support, activity related affect, situational influences, commitment to plan of action, immediate competing demands and diabetes, self-caring and diabetes. Unfavorable self-care situation especially, inappropriate nutritional behavior is related to some effective modifiable factors. Perceived benefits and self-efficacy regarding behaviors play a major role in the nutritional behaviors. Social support especially, spouses' support has a significant role in this regard. Moreover, there is a reverse relationship between perceived barriers and nutritional self-care. In addition, behavioral feelings, situational influences, commitment to plan of action and immediate competing demands and preferences can also impact and overshadow the nutritional self-care. Following the relationship between constructs of Health Promotion Model and nutritional behavior the constructs of this model can be utilized as the basis for educational intervention among diabetes.