title: Nutritional knowledge, attitude and practice toward micronutrients among Iranian households: the NUTRI-KAP survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Healthy diet for maintaining a healthy weight and prevention of chronic disease is vital at all stages of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the nutritional knowledge, attitude, and practice among urban and rural households in Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this nation-wide study, 14,136 subjects were selected using a multistage cluster sampling method from 31 provinces of Iran. This study was on the households in rural and urban areas in Iran. Participants of this study were mothers or other members who were responsible for preparing meals for the whole family. Data were gathered by the questionnaire and the interview with the qualified person in each family.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Frequency of knowledge about food source of calcium was between 11.6 and 64.7 %. Knowing of food source of zinc was about 12.8-16.7 %. Knowledge about of meat as source of iron was 50.9 and 46.5 % in regions of urban and rural, respectively. Positive attitude about preferring to use the full-fat dairy was about 25.1 % and negative attitude about this issue was 71.4 %; the positive attitude was slightly lower in rural areas than in urban areas. Respectively, frequency of using red meat in urban households was 10.8, 73.7, and 15.5 % as daily, weekly and rarely. Frequency of using daily of milk, yogurt and cheese was significantly lower in rural than in urban household.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This national study indicates that in some cases there is a gap between knowledge and behavior among household of Iranian population.
authors.affiliation: Chronic Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Heshmat
authors.affiliation: Community Nutrition Department, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Abdollahi
authors.affiliation: Community Nutrition Department, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farzaneh Sadeghi
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Ghotbabadi
authors.affiliation: Chronic Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahsa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rostami
authors.affiliation: Chronic Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Endocrinology & Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Gita
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shafiee
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qorbani
authors.affiliation: Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital Complex, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rezaei Homami
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology & 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: Community Nutrition Department, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Forouzan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Salehi
keywords: Attitude; Knowledge; Nutrition; Practice