title: The effect of Norouz holiday on anthropometric measures and body composition.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study examined the effect of holiday season on the anthropometric measures in Shariati hospital staff.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted in 2014 on 66 subjects, aged 21-68 years. Weight, height, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), waist -to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to- height ratio (WHtR) and physical activity were measured. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) method and the Tanita body composition analyzer were used to analyze body composition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, 80.3% of subjects were female and 19.7% were male. The mean age of subjects was 39.5 (SD: 9.7) years (range: 21-68). The percentage of overweight and obesity in the study population were 40.9% and 12.1%, respectively. After the holiday, participants gained 0.58 kg of weight and 0.19 units of BMI) P < 0.001). The average of WC, WHR and WHtR also increased after the holiday; however they were not statistically significant. Basal metabolic rate and fat free mass raised significantly, but the amount of fat mass decreased after the holiday.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The holiday season is a critical period for weight gain and body fat. It's highly recommended to weight daily during the holiday season and to increase their physical activity while limiting high-calorie foods.
authors.affiliation: Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular -Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Moloud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Payab
authors.affiliation: Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular -Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Shirin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hasani-Ranjbar
authors.affiliation: Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular -Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hoda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zahedi
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran ; Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qorbani
authors.affiliation: Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular -Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shateri
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Bagher
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Larijani
authors.affiliation: Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular -Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; EMRI (Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute), Shariati Hospital, 5th Floor, North Kargar Ave., Tehran, 14114 Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmadreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soroush
keywords: Body composition; Body weight; Holiday; Metabolic syndrome; Norouz Holiday; Obesity