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This study has been carried out on the 491 local children whom have been selected on random sampling in 20 villages around Gorgan. The size of the height and weight of NCHS standard has been used for comparison. The results of this study shows that the height and weight of all the children in any age group is below NCHS standard. It take more time to reach to acceptable height than reaching to a standard growth and weight. Children in any age experience delay in height monotonously but it has been recorded than in initial years of life, children experience shorter delay in growth and weight but by increasing the age, the delay in the former indices increased as well. In the whole, the rate of the malnutrition will be worsen after the breast feeding period is stopped.

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Diarrhea and malnutrition are important health problems in human societies, especially in developing countries, leading to a huge number of deaths annually. Numerous studies have death with the relationship between malnutrition as a predisposing factor and acute diarrhea, but they have yielded conflicted results. In a cross-sectional controlled study, we examined 398 infants 1-24 month-old referred to the diarrhea-training unit (DTU) of hospital. After treating dehydration, height, weight were measured and compared with an age-matched control group. In cases with acute diarrhea, 3.2% had severe, 14.8% had moderate, 48.8% had light malnutrition, 33.2% had no malnutrition according to Gomez scale. In the control group, the percentage of subjects with severe, moderate, light, and with out malnutrition were 0.5%, 2.2%, 32.4%, and 64.8%, respectively. Average weight for age and weight for height scores were significantly lower in cases with acute diarrhea than in control subjects. However, average for age score was not statistically different in the 2 groups. Patients with acute diarrhea suffered a higher prevalence of malnutrition compared with those from the control group. There was not statistically significant relationship between growth indices and socioeconomic class of the family. A lower percentage of infants with acute diarrhea compared with control group enjoyed breast-feeding as the primary feeding routine. The period of breast-feeding was shorter in infants with acute diarrhea. Nevertheless, breast-feeding neither have significant effects on malnutrition nor on weight and height growth indices. Overall, we concluded that malnutrition and decreased weight growth index might be important predisposing factors for acute diarrhea. Early diagnosis and treatment of malnutrition (Especially moderate and light degrees) are very important measures to be taken in order to decrease diarrhea and its complications.

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Background & Objective: WHO estimated almost 27% of under 5 years children suffered from under-weight. This study aimed are assessing anthropometric indicators (underweight, wasting and stunting) in 0-24 months children at Golestan province and the relationship with the background variables of households. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 1473 children (under 2 years old) whom resided in urban and rural area. Samplimg method was single stage cluster sampling. Constitutional variables in child’s mothers, age, educational level, job and child’s weight and height are measured by structured questionnair. The data were analysed with chi square, chi square for trend and logistic regression. Results: The under-weight, wasting and stunting (mild to severe) prevalence were 21.4% (CI 95%: 19.3-23.6), 16.5% (CI 95%: 14.7-18.5) and 31.4% (CI 95%: 29.1-33.8) respectively. Maximum sex difference in the malnutrition indicators were seen stunting (boys 14.3%, girls 7.2%) (p<0.05). The prevalence of under-weight, wasting and stunting are positively correlated with increasing the children’s age. The under-weight and stunting linear trend was significant (p<0.05). The risk of under-weight children were 2.8 fold in illitraced mothers relative to mothers with high school diploma (CI 95% for adjusted odds ratio: 1.1-7). The risk was 1.5 fold in stunting (CI 95% for adjusted odds ratio: 0.5-4.3). Conclusion: The under-weight and wasting (moderate to severe) prevalence are increased relatively ANIS study (1998), but stunting prevalence are not increased. The mothers’ illitracy and very low educational level can be suspected risk factors for under-weight and stunting.

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Background and Objective: Malnutrition in hospital increases the mortality of patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition and related risk factors in hospitalized patients. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was carried out on 446 patients (217 males, 229 females) during 6 months, admitted to the Taleghani hospital in Tehran, Iran during 2005. Anthropometric measurements and previous admission to hospital in previous 6 months for each patient was recorded. Mild, moderate and severe malnutrition were considered as BMI=18-20 kg/m2 and TSF, or MAMC<10th, or weight loss<5% as BMI=16-18kg/m2 and TSF, or MAMC<5th, or weight loss 5-10% and severe as BMI<16kg/m2 and TSF, or MAMC<5th or weight loss>10% in previous 6 months respectively. Results: The prevalence rate of malnutrition as a general was 52% with following subdivision: 14%, 10% and 28% in mild, moderate and severe, respectively. The highest prevalence of malnutrition observed in gastrointestinal ward, males, those aged 18-29 year and patients with secondary and high school education. In malnourished patients, the prevalence of TSF, MAC and MAMC <5th were significantly more than of well-nourished subjects (P<0.05). Increase BMI per unit decreased the risk of malnutrition by 17% (OR: 0.83 CI: 0.79-0.87). Malnutrition was 64% higher in patients with 1≥ gastrointestinal disturbances, compared with those without it and 2.1 higher in patients with 2≥-hospitalized readmission, compared with subjects without readmission in previous 6 month. Odds ratio of at least one hospitalized admission in previous 6 month was 1.64 in patients with MAC <5th, compared with those with MAC 50-75th (P<0.017). Conclusion: This study showed that Malnutrition upon hospitalization is common in Tehran. BMI, gastrointestinal disturbances, and readmission were associated with malnutrition.

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Background and Objective: Malnutrition is considered as one of most serious disorder in childhood. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and its relation to serum level of Magnesium, Zinc, Iron and Calcium in 6-36 months hospitalized children. Methods: In this case-control study upon CDC chart, 166 children were in control group diagnosed with no malnutrition and 151 children were also in case group with malnutrition. BMI and serum level of Magnesium, Zinc, Iron and Calcium were measeared for each child. Results: Out of 151 children with malnutrition, 128 (84.76%) and 23 (15.23%) were involved in mild and moderate malnutrition, respectively. The serum level of Magnesium and Zinc in case group was non-significantly lower than controls, while the serum level of Calcium and Iron non-significantly higher than controls. BMI was significantly reduced in cases in compared to controls and this reduction was related with malnutrition (95% CI: 0.38-0.59, OR=0.47, P<0.05). Conclusion: Malnutrition in 6-36 month children was not related to serum level of Zinc, Magnesium, Iron and Calcium, while children with malnutrition had lower body mass index.

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Background and Objective: Malnutrition is an important health problem in patients with end stage renal disease which increases morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis of malnutrition can be important for nutritional supports in hemodialysis patients. This study was carried out to evaluate the nutritional status and its related risk factors in hemodialysis patients using subjective global assessment. Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was done on 117 hemodialysis patients in the 5th Azar hospital, in Gorgan, Iran during August to October 2013. The nutritional status was evaluated as normal, mild to moderate or severe malnutrition using subjective global assessment (SGA). The anthropometric and biochemical parameters of hemodialysis patients and its relation with nutritional status were determined. Results: Among 116 patients, 29.66%, 69.82% and 0.9% were well nourished, mild to moderate malnutrition and severe malnutrition, respectively. A significant negative correlation was seen between patient’s weight, BMI, mid-arm circumference and serum albumin with SGA score (P<0.05). Patient’s age and duration of hemodialysis positively correlated with malnutrition (P<0.05). No significant association was found between serum concentration of BUN, Cr and WBC count with nutritional status. Conclusion: This study has shown low prevalence of malnutrition in our population in comparison with other studies. However according to important of malnutrition in patients undergoing hemodialysis, the basic evaluation of nutritional status is needed for every patient.

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Background and Objective: The incidence of tuberculosis in Golestan province in northern Iran is 26.7 cases in 100000 persons. Lack of energy and nutrients is one of the reasons for the increased risk of tuberculosis. Malnutrition is an important cause of high mortality in the Tuberculosis (TB) population. With decreasing level of visceral proteins, anthropometric indices, and micronutrients increase the risk of mortality. This study was performed to determine the status of nutritional status of patients with Tuberculosis in Gonbad-e-Kavous, north of Iran during 2014.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 45 pulmonary tuberculosis patients with mean age of 57±20 living in Gonbad city, north of Iran during 2014. Demographic information and history of tuberculosis, body mass index, albumin, hemoglobin, total protein and blood cell count and food intake were recorded for each patient.
Results: 58% of patients were women. 52% of patient was resident in rural area. There was a significant difference in terms of body mass index and previous history of tuberculosis in patients with different disease intensities. Among patients with different disease intensities, the difference in the distribution of anemia severity was not significant. There was no significant difference between the two sexes in terms of disease severity distribution. According to the fitted regression model, the age variable, even in the presence of other variables, had a significant effect on disease severity (P<0.05).
Conclusion: With increasing disease severity, patients' BMI decreases and the severity of malnutrition and anemia increases. The severity of the disease increases with age. Tuberculosis patients need nutritional support.

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Background and Objective: Malnutrition is a significant factor contributing to delays in recovery or failure of tuberculosis (TB) treatment. One nutritional support strategy involves providing food baskets to TB patients during their treatment course. This study was conducted in Golestan Province to determine the effect of food support on the treatment outcomes of TB patients.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical observational study, supported by the Community Nutrition Improvement Office of the Ministry of Health, was conducted longitudinally in two parallel groups in Golestan Province, during 2017. The first group consisted of 129 TB patients under treatment who had received two supportive food baskets and had completed their treatment course. The second group comprised 399 TB patients who did not receive any supportive food baskets. The outcomes, including mortality, treatment non-adherence, treatment failure, and recovery, were tracked for both patient groups by the healthcare system, and the necessary information was recorded in the patients’ records and compared.
Results: During an 8-month follow-up period, commencing from the second month of treatment, the increase in the mean weight of patients receiving the supportive food basket was statistically significant (P<0.05). Recovery rates in patients receiving the supportive food basket were determined to be 94.6%, while in patients not receiving the supportive food basket, it was 88.7% (P<0.05). The relative risk of non-recovery in the group not receiving the supportive food basket was 2.078 times that of the group receiving the supportive food basket (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.961-4.494).
Conclusion: Receiving a supportive food basket is effective in the treatment of TB patients in Golestan Province.