Generalized or abdominal obesity: which one better identifies cardiometabolic risk factors among children and adolescents? The CASPIAN III study.

Objectives: We investigated the association of generalized and abdominal obesity with cardiometabolic risk factors in children and adolescents.

Methods: Data were obtained from a surveillance system entitled CASPIAN-III study in school students aged 10-18 years in Iran. Data of subjects with normal body mass index (BMI) or above (BMI ≥ 5th percentile) were analyzed.

Low birthweight or rapid catch-up growth: which is more associated with cardiovascular disease and its risk factors in later life? A systematic review and cryptanalysis.

Background: The effects of birthweight (the Barker hypothesis) and growth trajectory in early life on the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors in later life have been investigated in a number of studies.

Objective: To undertake a systematic review and cryptanalysis of the association of low birthweight (LBW) and the postnatal growth trajectory with CVD and its risk factors.

Methods: English-language publications in PubMed, ISI Web of Science and Scopus were searched.

Association of serum lead and mercury level with cardiometabolic risk factors and liver enzymes in a nationally representative sample of adolescents: the CASPIAN-III study.

This study aims to determine the difference of serum Pb and Hg levels in adolescents with or without metabolic syndrome (MetS) and the association of serum levels of these heavy metals with cardiometabolic risk factors and liver enzymes in Iranian adolescents. The study population consisted of 320 adolescents (160 with MetS and 160 healthy controls). The relationship between serum heavy metals and cardiometabolic risk factors was assessed by linear regression.

Do Iranian tobacco growers support the World Health Organization framework convention on tobacco control?

Context: Studies on the World Health Organization Frame-work Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are scarce in Iran and the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR).

Aim: This study was conducted in 2007-2008 in Iran to design a practical evaluation model of the implementation of FCTC with the potential to be adopted in the EMR. Given that, the findings of this evaluation can be useful in increasing political and public support for enforcing the implementation of legislations, testing their feasibility, and maintaining sustainability.

Systematic review and meta-analysis on the age-specific seroprevalence of hepatitis A in Iran.

Background: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a major cause of acute viral hepatitis worldwide. Annual medical and work loss costs of hepatitis A are significant even in low-endemic countries. It is recommended that each country should collect and review the information needed to estimate its national burden of hepatitis A to provide evidence for health policy makers to implement appropriate and cost-effective preventive strategy for HAV infection.

Child Weight Growth Trajectory and its Determinants in a Sample of Iranian Children from Birth until 2 Years of Age.

Background: Growth is one of the most important indices in child health. The best and most effective way to investigate child health is measuring the physical growth indices such as weight, height and head circumference. Among these measures, weight growth is the simplest and the most effective way to determine child growth status.

Association of Overweight and Obesity with Mental Distress in Iranian Adolescents: The CASPIAN-III Study.

Background: Excess weight may be associated with mental distress and this relationship varies according to the socio-cultural background of different populations. This study aims to assess the relationship of overweight and obesity with some psychological disorders in a nationally representative sample of Iranian adolescents.

Methods: This nationwide study was conducted in 2009-2010 among 5570 students, aged 10-18 years, living in 27 provinces in Iran.

Association of rs8066560 variant in the sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP-1) and miR-33b genes with hyperglycemia and insulin resistance.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the association of miR-33b/SREBP-1 rs8066560 with hyperglycemia and insulin resistance in Iranian children and adolescents.

Methods: This case-control study comprised 200 participants with 9-19 years of age, consisting of 100 MetS and 100 healthy controls. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were measured, and the polymorphism was genotyped by TaqMan real-time PCR method.

Prevalence of Prehypertension and Hypertension in a Nationally Representative Sample of Iranian Children and Adolescents: The CASPIAN-IV Study.

Background: The global health burden has faced toward non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It is suggested that adulthood blood pressure (BP) is tracked from childhood. This study aims to evaluate the mean BP and the prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension in the Iranian pediatric population.

Review on iron and its importance for human health.

It is well-known that deficiency or over exposure to various elements has noticeable effects on human health. The effect of an element is determined by several characteristics, including absorption, metabolism, and degree of interaction with physiological processes. Iron is an essential element for almost all living organisms as it participates in a wide variety of metabolic processes, including oxygen transport, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis, and electron transport.

Indicators developed to evaluate the international framework convention on tobacco control in iran; a grounded theory study.

This study aimed to develop indicators for evaluating the implementation of The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in Iran. We used the "grounded theory" framework. Totally, 265 policy-makers, stakeholders, and community members were recruited by purposeful sampling in 2008.

The effect of breathing exercises on the nocturnal enuresis in the children with the sleep-disordered breathing.

Background: The nocturnal enuresis is one of the most common complaints of childhood. Upper airway obstruction and nocturnal snoring affect the nocturnal enuresis in children.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of breathing exercises on the nocturnal enuresis in the children with the sleep-disordered breathing.

Dual burden of body weight among Iranian children and adolescents in 2003 and 2010: the CASPIAN-III study.

Introduction: Our aim was to compare changes of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) curves of Iranian children by comparing the results of two national surveys of a surveillance program, i.e. CASPIAN-I (2003-2004) and CASPIAN-III (2009-2010).

Association of fructose consumption and components of metabolic syndrome in human studies: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to review the current corpus of human studies to determine the association of various doses and durations of fructose consumption on metabolic syndrome.

Methods: We searched human studies in PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane library, and Google Scholar databases. We searched for the following keywords in each paper: metabolic syndrome x, insulin resistance, blood glucose, blood sugar, fasting blood sugar, triglycerides, lipoproteins, HDL, cholesterol, LDL, blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, hypertens*, waist circumference, and fructose, sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, or sugar.

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet affects inflammation in childhood metabolic syndrome: a randomized cross-over clinical trial.

Background: The effects of the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet on inflammation in childhood metabolic syndrome (MetS) have still to be identified.

Objective: To examine the effects of the DASH diet on markers of systemic inflammation in adolescents with MetS.

Methods: In this randomized, cross-over clinical trial, 60 postpubescent girls with MetS were randomly assigned to receive either the DASH diet menu cycles or usual dietary advice (UDA) for 6 weeks.

Factors influencing left ventricular hypertrophy in children and adolescents with or without family history of premature myocardial infarction.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the highest ranking cause of mortality. The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases is increasing among people in developed and developing countries. Since left ventricular hypertrophy is one of the risk factors leading to extremely dangerous heart diseases and even sudden death at early ages, investigating its contributing factors can be beneficial.

Glycemic index, glycemic load and childhood obesity: A systematic review.

Background: Several evidences have been reported so far in terms of the relationship between obesity and glycemic index and glycemic load in children. However, the number of review studies that have dealt with recent findings is quite low. The purpose of present study is to review the existing evidences in this regard.

Prevalence of genitalia malformation in Iranian children: findings of a nationwide screening survey at school entry.

Background: Ambiguous genitalia is a hereditary disorder that usually requires early attention and detection. The discovery of ambiguous genitalia in a neonate is situation that could be difficult to manage, not only because of complications such as salt-losing, but also due to the importance of sex determination before psychological gender could be established. Awareness of the prevalence of ambiguous genitalia can affect the attitude and consideration of physicians and related medical personnel about disease in different communities.

A Nationwide Survey on the Daily Screen Time of Iranian Children and Adolescents: The CASPIAN - IV Study.

Background: Leisure time activity is an important life-style habit. This study aims to determine the screen time of a nationally representative sample of Iranian children and adolescents.

Methods: This nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted as part of the fourth survey of a surveillance system.

A review on the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle aspects of the early-life origins of cardiovascular disease.

This article is a comprehensive review on developmental origins of health and disease regarding various factors related to the origins of cardiovascular diseases from early life. It presents a summary of the impacts of various factors such as epigenetics; gene-environment interaction; ethnic predisposition to cardiovascular diseases and their underlying risk factors; prenatal factors; fetal programming; maternal weight status and weight gain during pregnancy; type of feeding during infancy; growth pattern during childhood; obesity; stunting; socioeconomic status; dietary and physical activity habits; active, secondhand, and thirdhand smoking, as well as environmental factors including air pollution and global climate change on the development and progress of cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors. The importance of early identification of predisposing factors for cardiovascular diseases for primordial and primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases from early life is highlighted.

Association between psychosocial distress with cardio metabolic risk factors and liver enzymes in a nationally-representative sample of Iranian children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-III study.

Background: The present study was designed to evaluate association of psychosocial distress with cardio metabolic risk factors and liver enzymes in Iranian children and adolescents.

Method: This nationwide study was conducted as the third survey of the school-based surveillance system that was conducted among 5593 school students, 10-18 years in Iran. High triglyceride (TG), high fasting blood sugar (FBS), high total cholesterol (TC), high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), hypertension (HTN), generalized obesity and abdominal obesity were considered as cardio metabolic risk factors and alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were considered as liver enzymes.

Etiology of congenital hypothyroidism in Isfahan: Does it different?

Background: Considering the higher prevalence of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in Iran and the importance of determination of the etiology of CH for assessing appropriate treatment strategies, understanding the pathogenesis of CH and the implications of its inheritance and prognosis, the aim of this study was to determine the etiology of CH 7 years after initiation of the program in Isfahan province.

Materials And Methods: In this cross-sectional study, children with a primary diagnosis of CH studied. They clinically examined and their medical files were reviewed by a Pediatric Endocrinologist.

The protective effects of breastfeeding on chronic non-communicable diseases in adulthood: A review of evidence.

Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, etc., are the major causes of mortality in the world, notably in low- and middle-income countries. A growing body of evidence suggests that NCDs have a complex etiology resulting from the interaction of genetic factors, gender, age, ethnicity, and the environmental factors.

Relationship of Serum Magnesium and Vitamin D Levels in a Nationally-Representative Sample of Iranian Adolescents: The CASPIAN-III Study.

Background: This study aims to assess the relationship of serum Mg and vitamin D levels in a nationally-representative sample of Iranian adolescents.

Methods: The study participants consisted of 330 students, aged range from 10 to 18 years, consisting of an equal number of individuals with and without hypovitaminosis D. The correlation between serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH) D) and magnesium (Mg) concentrations was determined.

Association between vitamin D status and lipid profile in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed on the relationship of serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D [25(OH)D] and lipid profile in the pediatric age group. Electronic search was conducted in international databases. Our search yielded to 3213 articles, with initial searching of title and abstracts, 3192 of them were excluded and 21 remained.