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Background and Aim Considering the importance of childhood obesity and easier correction of related factors in this age group, the present study aimed to investigate the role of some factors related to family, nutrition, and lifestyle on childhood obesity. Methods & Materials This age-matched case-control study was performed on 150 obese and 150 healthy children, aged 2-15 years referring to Amir-Kabir Hospital in Arak City, Iran. Obesity was calculated based on Body Mass Index (BMI). Required information, including family factors, nutritional factors, and lifestyle characteristics were collected by a checklist. Ethical Considerations This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Arak University of Medical Sciences (Code: IR.ARAKMU.REC.1396.119). Results The results of Odds Ratio (OR) with 95% of Confidence Interval (CI) were in favor of father’s age of 25-35 and over 35 years (0.24), respectively, father’s overweight and obesity (3.87 and 3.57), mother’s overweight and obesity (3.81 and 5.5)7, more than three children per household (3.33), low and high consumption of fruits and vegetables (0.3 and 0.19), breakfast eating (0.43), dietary supplementation (2.68), consuming fast food (3.98), more than two hours of playing a computer game (3.5), chewing well (0.38), using food as a reward (1.89), as well as participating in food and table preparation (3.14). We found a dose-response association between children’s obesity and parents’ BMI, the number of children, and computer games. Conclusion Obesity is associated with some factors related to the family, such as nutrition, computer games, and lifestyle characteristics. Due to various risk factors and adjustable safeguards, it is necessary to provide families and children with proper education to reduce obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders are ranked first amongst medical diseases as a trigger of requests for mental health counselling. Child abuse has been regarded as one of the main causes of the development of functional abdominal pain (FAP) in children. This study aimed, therefore, to compare the prevalence of child abuse experience among two groups of patients with and without FAP. Methods: A case-control study of children in Arak, Iran, in which experience of child abuse was compared in children with (n = 100) and without functional abdominal pain (n = 100). Three categories of child abuse - emotional abuse, physical abuse, and neglect - were assessed using the Child Abuse Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using Stata software. Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, there were group differences in emotional abuse (96% vs. 81%, aOR = 5.13, 95% CI: 1.3–20.3, p = 0.017), neglect (28% vs. 8%, aOR = 4.27, 95% CI: 1.8–11.8, p = 0.001) and total child abuse score (98% vs. 84%, aOR = 8.2, 95% CI: 1.5–43.8, p = 0.014) but not in physical abuse (57% vs. 46%, aOR = 1.47, 95% CI: 0.81–2.60, p = 0.728). Conclusions: As the prevalence of child abuse is higher in patients with FAP, child abuse appears to be related to the occurrence of FAP in children. However, the results of this study cannot be generalized to Iranian society generally and further longitudinal studies are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]