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This paper aims to examine the association between the dietary inflammatory index, the consumption of Enteral Nutrition Supplemented with probiotics with certain serum inflammation markers and gastrointestinal complications among individuals diagnosed with COVID-19.

This cross-sectional investigation involved 100 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to intensive care units in hospitals. These patients were administered two different types of Enteral Nutrition, so the dietary inflammatory index (DII), gastrointestinal complications and some serum inflammation markers have been compared between two groups.

The mean DII scores in all patients were significantly pro-inflammatory (probiotic formula 2.81 ± 0.01 vs usual formula group 2.93 ± 0.14 p = 0.19). The probiotic formula consumption had an inverse association with High-sensitivity C-reactive Protein concentration (coef = −3.19, 95% CI −1.25, −5.14 p = 0.001) and lead to a reduction of 2.14 mm/h in the serum level of Erythrocyte sedimentation rate compared to normal formula. The incidence of diarrhea, abdominal pain and vomiting in probiotic formula patients was respectively 94%, 14% and 86% less than in usual formula patients (p = 0.05).

In this cross-sectional study for the first time, the authors found that probiotic formula consumption was inversely associated with serum inflammation markers and gastrointestinal complications incidence. The high DII leads to more gastrointestinal complications incidence and inflammation markers. More studies are needed to prove this relationship.

Regular breakfast with a variety of nutrients can lead to improving educational performance, learning ability, reducing behavioral problems in elementary students. This study aims to use the Trans-Theoretical Model (TTM) to assess the mediating effect of self-efficacy in regular breakfast consumption among children of Ardabil elementary schools.

This cross-sectional study was performed between 300 students from elementary schools of different regions of Ardabil city by cluster sampling method. The instrument used in this study was the TTM standard questionnaire. Data was analyzed with Spearman correlation and regression using SPSS v18 software to identify the mediating effects of self-efficacy.

The mean age (SD) OF children was 11.2 (1.26) and 50% of them were female. Self-efficacy was the strongest predictor in stage promotion (ß = 0.44, P = 0.001), as well as had a mediating effect on the impact of other constructs of the model such as experiential processes (ß = 0.35, P = 0.04) and pros (ß = 0.44, P = 0.03) with stages of change. Pros were a significant predictor of self-efficacy in the first equation (ß = 0.17, P = 0.001) and Pros were a significant predictor of stages of change in the second equation when mediated by self-efficacy (ß = 0.11, P = 0.03). In the third equation, both the mediator, myself-efficacy and the predictor, Pros of breakfast consumption, were significantly associated with stages of change. The mediating effects of self-efficacy on the association between experiential processes and stages of change were also confirmed. The increased standardized beta coefficients of experiential processes between equations 3(ß = 0.35) and 2(ß = 0.29).

Due to the importance of eating a healthy breakfast regularly in children, this study aimed to use TTM to assess mediating effects of self-efficacy in regular breakfast consumption in Ardabil elementary students.

Obesity is a multi-factorial problem that develops from an interaction between diet, genetics, physical activity, medication, and other factors. This paper aims to examine the association between dietary diversity score (DDS) and obesity among adults of Ardebil.

This case-control study was conducted on 204 cases (obese and overweight participants) and 204 controls (healthy weight individuals) matched by socioeconomic status (SES), age (older than 30 years) and sex. Dietary intake was assessed using a 24 h food recall questionnaire. Data on physical activity and socio-demographic variables were gathered. DDS was computed based on the scoring of the 14 food groups recommended by the Food and Agriculture organization guideline.

The DDS of the obese group was higher (5.02 ± 1.02) than that of the healthy weight group (4.23 ± 1.18) (p < 0.001). There was a significant association between DDS and body mass index (BMI) in both groups of study, but this association was more significant in the obese group (β = 0.501, p = 0.021) than that of healthy weight group (β = 0.413, p= 0.042). Vegetable food group score in both groups of the study was associated with obesity inversely (p < 0.05).

This study was conducted for the first time in Ardabil city and the results showed for the first time that there is a relationship between dietary diversity and obesity. People with a higher dietary diversity score are more likely to be obese. In fact, this study for the first time proved that people who are obese have a more varied diet but less vegetables and fruits.

During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes in dietary intake were observed. However, the determinants of food choice and adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) in this period were not studied so far for Iranian adults. This study aimed to assess the food choice determinants changes and Adherence to the MD of Iranian adults.

This study was a cross-sectional study that was conducted from April 2019 to May 2020, based on the snowball sampling, and a total number of 2,540 adults from all the regions of Iran participated. The Food Choice Questionnaire was used to analyze food choice determinants, and the validated ten-item MD adherence screener was used to assess the adherence to the MD.

Before the COVID-19 quarantine, sensory appeal and price were the most important factors in Iranian food choice (with the highest scores), but during the COVID-19 pandemic the important food choice determinants were health and weight control. Consumption of vegetables (71.85% vs 40.07%), fruits (60.70% vs 38.74%), legumes (24.72% vs 12.38%) and nuts (14.33%) increased significantly after the outbreak of quarantine.

This study aims to investigate the food choice motivations and some healthy food intake among Ardabil adults with different socioeconomic status.

The analysis is based on a focus group study conducted in September 2018. Self-assessed other food choice motivations, healthy food intake and socioeconomic status were reported in questionnaires. The study data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA test and χ² test in groups of study.

Price was a primary motivation of food choice for low-level socioeconomic status persons. The wealthiest people total vegetable consumption was 3.59Â ± 0.004 serving/day, whereas the total vegetable consumption of poorest participants was significantly less than them (p = 0.012). Of the socioeconomics category 1 (SEC1) group participants, 82 per cent said that they consider food price when they were purchasing for their households, while only 28 per cent of SEC4 group said that they consider food prices when food choosing. Only 1 per cent of this group participants pay attention to food label when they choose foods.

This is the first study that investigated the food choice motivations in Ardabil adults. The results indicated that food price is the most critical food choice motivation. Based on this study results, the food policymaker can change people food security and food choices with some programs like as healthy food subsidies and unhealthy food taxes.

This study aims to assess the association of dietary inflammatory index (DII), consumption of functional food and some antioxidants with COVID-19 vaccine side effects in Iranian adults.

This was a case–control study conducted among the 1,067 Iranian adults who were invited to participate through WhatsApp software. The dietary intake was assessed using the food frequency questionnaire.

There was a significant difference (p = 0.04) in vitamin D consumption between healthy people and persons with a vaccine side effect. Vitamin E intake in healthy participants was significantly (p = 0.04) more than case group. There was a significant difference in the consumption of zinc (p = 0.01), selenium (p = 0.02) and vitamin C (p = 0.02), between persons without vaccine side effects and the case group. Consumption of onion (82.5 ± 9.5 g/day vs 32.2 ± 6.3; p = 0.0001), garlic (6 ± 0.3 g/day vs 0.2 ± 0.08; p = 0.0001) and oat (2.2 ± 0.05 g/day vs 0.5 ± 0.01; p = 0.001) in the control group was significantly more than persons with vaccine side effects. With the increase in each unit in the score of the DII, the risk of COVID-19 vaccine side effect incidence increased 1.7 times (OR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.3–1.8).

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first that investigated the association between functional food intake and side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.