Introduction: The most important risk factors for type II diabetic patients are poor nutrition, low physical activity, smoking and obesity indicating an inappropriate lifestyle. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting the health promoting lifestyle in type II diabetic patients compared with healthy people. Patients and Methods: The study was descriptive-analytic with two case-control groups carried out on 150 type II diabetic patients and 150 healthy people. Data were collected using demographic characteristics questionnaire and health promoting lifestyle profile II (HPLII). Results: There was a significant difference between the lifestyle of type II diabetic patients and healthy people (P<0.001). Additionally, there were significant differences regarding lifestyle dimensions between physical activity, nutrition and stress management in type II diabetic patients compared with healthy people (P<0.001). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the dimensions of spiritual growth (P=0.074), communication with others (P=0.363) and health responsibility (P=0.582). Conclusion: This study showed the effective role of lifestyle components in the development of type II diabetes. It is recommended to prevent or manage type II diabetes, through emphasizing on maintaining lifestyle and its dimensions.

Background and Objectives: Young people are the main group at risk of HIV/AIDS due to factors such as curiosity, peer pressure, lack of knowledge and skills, unsafe sexual behaviors, and drug abuse. The present study was conducted to compare the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding HIV/AIDS among medical and non-medical students in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted on a population consisting of the students of Shahid Beheshti University (SBU) and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU). A total of 303 students were randomly selected from the two universities. Data were collected using a researcher-made HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitude, and practice questionnaire. Data were then analyzed using the independent t-test, Mann-Whitney's U-test, the ANOVA, and the Kruskal-Wallis test in SPSS-18. P<0.05 was set as the level of significance for all the tests. Findings: The frequencies of marital status, education, smoking, alcohol and psychotropic substance use, employment status, and source of information differed significantly between the medical and non-medical students. There was a significant difference between the two groups regarding knowledge (P<0.001) and practice (P=0.019) regarding HIV/AIDS. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of their attitude toward HIV/AIDS (P=0.503). The results of the ANOVA revealed a significant correlation between marital status and practice (P=0.022), education and attitude (P=0.004), and smoking and knowledge (P=0.008) among the medical students. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference between the demographic variables and knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding HIV/AIDS among the non-medical students (P>0.005). Conclusion:The present findings showed that designing and developing appropriate educational programs, offered through group media, scientific seminars, courses, lectures, and group discussions, can be effective in enhancing the students' knowledge and changing their attitudes and should be incorporated into healthcare programs.