COMPARISON OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND NUTRITIONAL ATTITUDES AND NUTRITIONAL BEHAVIOR OF RURAL AND URBAN HOUSEHOLDS IN TEHRAN AND KHORASAN RAZAVI REGARDING NUTRITIONAL INDICES RELATED TO CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

Background and Aim: Cardiovascular disease is a major health problem in all societies, which is related to lifestyle changes including nutritional intake. Studies have shown that the prevalence of cardiovascular disease is lower in societies with balanced and healthy nutrition. The purpose of this study was to compare the knowledge, attitude and practice of nutritional status in urban and rural households on cardiovascular diseases in Tehran and Khorasan Razavi provinces.Methods: In a cross-sectional, random clustered study 912 households (729 households and 183 rural households) were surveyed by using a valid KAP questionnaire and data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. Results: In both Tehran and Khorasan Razavi provinces, the awareness of urban households about fat food group was higher than rural ones (p<0.05). More than 90% of the surveyed households were aware of the necessity of salad and vegetable along with food and the preferences of traditional food consumption as compared to fast food. In Tehran, rural households had favorable attitude about the necessity to use of liquid oil instead of solid oil, preference to use low-fat dairy products and the harmfulness of salt intake with food, rather than urban households. Urban households had more favorable attitude only in the field of preference to use boiled food compare with other methods of cooking; but, in the Khorasan Razavi province urban households had more favorable attitude in all fields of evaluation (p<0.05).Conclusion: The results showed that household performance was not as satisfactory as their knowledge and attitude therefore possible solutions should be suggested by food policy makers to promote this situation.

Keywords:

Knowledge , Attitude , Function , Cardiovascular