A systematic review on diet quality among Iranian youth: focusing on reports from Tehran and Isfahan

Lifestyle and dietary pattern in adolescence and young adulthood not only affect the general state of health in these years, but also leave long-term effects. Due to the importance of diet in youth, this systematic review summarized observational studies representing dietary intakes among Iranian adolescents and young adults.

PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases were searched up to September 2013 using keywords related to diet, youth and Iran. Relevant papers were identified through applying a series of exclusion criteria in screening steps. Data were tabulated in 4 tables according to the level of assessed dietary exposure including energy or nutrients, foods or food groups, diet quality indices or dietary patterns, and dietary habits.

Out of 1348 retrieved papers, 17 papers were eligible to enter this systematic review. Most studies were conducted in Tehran and Isfahan. Totally, 13113 individual were studied including 7327 girls and 5785 boys aged 10 to 28 years. Receiving lower or higher energy than required resulted in two burdens of malnutrition. Fiber intake was nearly half of the recommended amounts. Among micronutrients, calcium, phosphorus, folate and iron had the most common insufficient intakes. The youth consumed low whole grain, fruits, vegetables, dairy and unsaturated fatty acids and low diverse diet. Skipping breakfast was rife. Eating fast foods and unhealthy snacks was another prevalent inappropriate dietary habit.

Dietary intakes and habits of young people are not favorable. Implementing informative programs and developing practical policies should be noted to improve the diet quality of adolescents and young adults.