Background: Zinc is an essential trace element in maintaining human health. Zinc deficiency has many adverse effects on the body's growth and validity and delays the individuals’ daily performance of duties. The study aimed: to find the association between serum zinc levels and different socio-demographic factors.Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to achieve the study's aim from November 2021to May 2022. The size of sample comprises 140 participants.  All study members were adults ages ranging from (18-65) years taken randomly from Al-Najaf Governorate. The data was collected by estimating serum zinc and using a simple questionnaire, then analyzed using a statistical program. Results: The association between serum zinc with educational level and monthly income wasa significant p-value (0.048 and 0.027, respectively). Other socio-demographic characteristics were not significant. Conclusion: The study concluded that educational level and monthly income could affect serum zinc level more than Other socio-demographic characteristics.

The study aims to identify mothers' knowledge about children's nutrition under five years in Babylon city. Materials and methods:  This study is a cross-sectional study on mothers' knowledge about children's nutrition under five years in primary health care centers in urban and rural of Al- Hilla city. The study period runs from November 1st, 2021, to March 1st, 2022. The data was collected by questionnaire through questions and an interview with mothers after obtaining their approval. Results: shows the total knowledge score of mothers, most of them (54.3%) scored moderate knowledge, followed by (43.9%) scored good knowledge. Conclusion: the study reveals that it did not find a statistically important association between demographic characteristics and total knowledge score, except for age groups, house type, and educational level of mother and father. Aims of the study: To identify mothers' knowledge about children's nutrition under five years in Al-Hilla city, To find an association between total knowledge score and demographic     characteristics. Keywords— knowledge, Malnutrition, Children, Dietary habits

Background: since 2003, Iraq's fragile geopolitical situation has harmed people's health, especially children. Some factors may have an impact on a child's nutritional status. The research goal is to determine the prevalence of malnutrition among children aged 6 to 59 months in a comprehensive sample of children in Babylon. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study focuses on the prevalence of malnutrition in children under the age of five at primary health care centers in Al- Hilla city's urban and rural areas. From November 1st, 2021, the research will take time until March 1st, 2022. After receiving their permission, the data was obtained using an auto-self questionnaire with a series of questions and an interview with moms and children. This interview lasts 10–15 minutes for each kid and is used to determine the prevalence of malnutrition in childhood. The prevalence of severe wasting (1.3%), underweight (1.3%), stunting (6.5%), and severe stunting (5.2%) was seen in both genders. The total prevalence of malnutrition among children under the age of five was determined to be 14.3%.

Background: Obesity has become a major health problem, defined as an abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat in adipose tissue and is diagnosed with a BMI ≥30 kg/m2. The study aimed to find the correlation between zinc deficiency and obesity, also, to study the association between obesity and different socio-demographic factors. Material and Methods: A case-control study was conducted to achieve the aims of the study that has been conducted from the beginning of December 2021 until June 2022. The size of the sample comprises 140 participants who were equally divided into two groups, obese group (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2) and the control group, (BMI18.5 - 24.9 kg/m2). All participants were taken randomly from adult peoples ages ranged between (18-65) years in Al-Najaf Governorate. Results: The association between serum zinc and obesity was significant (p-value = 0.041, O. ratio (95%CI) = 2.01(1.02-3.97)). The correlation between serum zinc level with both BMI and waist hip ratio (WHR) was negatively correlation (r = -0.241, r = -0.033, respectively). The association between obesity and socio-demographics characteristics was only significant with gender and marital status (P-value =0.002, 0.016, respectively), while the other characteristics were not significant (p-value = >0.05).

Overweight/obesity is a health problem that many young people suffer from, as a result of their unhealthy eating habits and changing their lifestyles, especially when they move to university life and makes them responsible for preparing their food meals. This study aims to find out the relationship between the dietary habits of university students and body mass index. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 384 randomly selected students (simple random sample) from Southern Technical University (College of Health and Medical Technology, Administrative Technical College, Technical College of Engineering, and Basrah Technical Institute). Data collection lasted for .6 months that started on November   2021 and ended on April 2022. Data were collected by direct interview with students by the researcher, using a detailed self-report questionnaire form .Use the height and weight scale to determine the body mass index .Regarding of food habits, use a questionnaire containing items related to the food habits and lifestyle that followed by the student. The results of our study showed that the lifestyle and dietary habits of Southern Technical University students, in addition to some demographic variables, had a significant effect on body mass index.