Health

The paper’s purpose was to investigate the obstacles the Zimbabwean government faces as it works towards meeting Sustainable Development Goal 3, which speaks of health and well-being for all. Various obstacles were observed, such as political and economic issues, personnel leaving for greener pastures, dilapidated infrastructure, and a lack of monitoring and evaluation systems that allow tracking of the goals. The author used a qualitative method and adopted a document review for data collection. Three major documents were used: The Ministry of Health and Child Care’s national policy (2021-2025), the World Health Organization 2023 report, and UNDP’s 2020 Zimbabwe’s SDG Progress report. The researcher scanned through the documents and highlighted areas where they discussed the SDG 3 challenges faced. The results confirmed that Zimbabwe is facing numerous challenges, including a fragmented procurement system and political and economic issues. The study's practical implications are that this document may remind policymakers that the Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 3, cannot be ignored, but effort is needed to ensure that all obstacles impeding the attainment of SDG 3 are addressed. Policymakers should provide a conducive environment that allows the ministries concerned to work towards the attainment of SDG 3. Healthy people are productive, and the focus will be on improving everyone's life, hence the need for SDG 3 to be fulfilled so no one is left behind. Significant progress is made when people are protected from illness, premature death is avoided, and the overall health of the population is improved. Issues such as inequalities and poverty are eradicated, and people enjoy prosperity and justice. The study is original and seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge regarding SDG 3, the challenges Zimbabwe is facing, and how they can be addressed to protect its citizens from diseases, improve prosperity, and enhance socio-economic factors.

Objectives: The present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral training on the body image of women with eating disorder symptoms. Method: The research method was semi-experimental (pre-test-post-test design with an unequal control group). The statistical population of the research included all women with eating symptoms who were referred to nutritional clinics, psychotherapy centers, and fitness and aerobics clubs in Kashan City in 2021. Among them, 20 people were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned into two control and experimental groups. The measurement tool included the satisfaction with body image questionnaire (2002). The experimental group was exposed to 10 sessions of cognitive behavioral training, and during this time, the control group was placed on the waiting list. Multivariate and one-way analysis of covariance was used for data analysis by SPSS software version 22. Results: The results showed a significant difference in the linear combination of body image scores of women with symptoms of eating disorders and food between groups. Conclusion: According to the results, the body satisfaction scores of the experimental group increased in the post-test compared to the control group. Also, the scores of dissatisfaction with body image have decreased in this group. In conclusion, the change in scores indicates the positive effect of cognitive behavioral training.

 Objective: Patients suffering from psychosomatic disorders such as peptic ulcers struggle with many psychological and physical problems. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of group mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) with emotion-focused therapy (EFT) on cognitive emotional regulation of patients with peptic ulcer. Method: This semi-experimental study was conducted with a pre-test-post-test-3-month follow-up design and a control group. For this purpose, 45 patients were selected through convenience sampling method among patients referred to specialized internal medicine clinics during Jan-March 2023. The participants were randomly assigned to three groups i.e. control (15 people), EFT (15 people), and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (15 people). The intervention groups received eight sessions of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy/ emotion-focused therapy. The control group did not receive any treatment during the study. The participants completed the standard cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire of Garnefski and Kraaij before, after and three months after the interventions. The obtained data were analyzed by repeated measurement analysis of variance and Bonferroni test. Results: Overall, the obtained results showed that EFT and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy are effective in the emotional regulation of patients with peptic ulcers (P=0.001). Comparing the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with emotion therapy on adaptive (P=0.56) and maladaptive (P=0.22) emotional regulation showed no significant difference in patients with peptic ulcer. Conclusion: Therefore, it can be said that both emotional therapy methods and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy have a positive effect on the emotional regulation of patients with peptic ulcers, and these two methods can be used for the improvement of emotional improvement in patients. 

Letter to the Editor

The neighborhood is considered as the center of thinking about the City. Neighborhoods have undergone changes in different eras based on different crises. The emergence of the Corona pandemic has caused immediate changes in the way of living and the creation of new demands in the last four years. The daily concerns caused by the pandemic have put the dwellers' physical, mental, and psychological health at risk. Therefore, the research's main goal is to rethink the concept of neighborhood health as required in the post-pandemic era. This research was developed based on the correspondence of experiences and literature of "contemporary neighborhood" and "pandemic concept." Based on theme base method, studies related to the "pandemic" were investigated to base the obtained data on the content matching of two concepts of the contemporary neighborhood and pandemic and to make it possible to realize the research goals. Based on the findings, eighteen criteria related to place, ten related to biopsychology, and seven related to biomedicine have been promoted in contemporary urban planning. The summation of the criteria related to the contemporary neighborhood also confirms eighteen criteria. Examining the content of the basis of livability criteria in the pandemic era and the contemporary neighborhood shows that these two phenomena (chronological) not only do not have a fundamental conflict with each other in content, but the content coherence between the criteria is evident.

Objective: Family dynamics play a significant role in establishing emotional relationships among its members and fostering psychological well-being, which extends to individual and collective members' peace of mind. This study aimed to investigate the impact of parenting styles and sexual education styles of parents, with anxiety as a mediating variable, on the sexual performance of married women. Method: The study population consisted of married women who presented with sexual dysfunction at psychiatric and women's clinics in Tehran. Since the minimum number of samples in structural equation modeling is 200 individuals, 200 individuals were selected through convenience sampling. The research instruments included Baumrind's Parenting Styles Scale (1972), Parental Sexual Education Styles Scale (2010), Beck Anxiety Scale (1990), and Rosen et al.'s Sexual Performance Scale (2000). Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data. Results: The findings of the present study showed that anxiety does not have a mediating effect on the effect of parents' strict sexual education style on the sexual performance of married women, but it has a complete mediating effect on the sexual performance of married women in the authoritative sexual education style of parents. Also, anxiety has a partial mediating effect on the impact of parents' authoritarian parenting style on married women's sexual performance, and it does not have a mediating effect on the parents' authoritarian parenting style on married women's sexual performance (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The study concludes that the sexual performance of married women is significantly influenced by the styles of parenting and sexual education they received, with anxiety playing varied mediating roles. An authoritative approach to sexual education, coupled with parenting styles that manage to reduce anxiety, tends to enhance sexual performance in women.

The beauty industry in Iran has seen remarkable growth in recent years, fueled by deep-rooted cultural ideals surrounding physical appearance. Many Iranians, as idealists, strive to meet high standards of beauty, a pursuit that has led to the booming of various beauty industries, including cosmetics, skincare, and plastic surgery. While the desire to look beautiful is often associated with social acceptance and personal confidence, the pursuit of beauty in Iran also has significant health consequences. Drawing on a review of existing literature, industry reports, and cultural studies, the study explores how beauty standards in Iran influence individual health, both physically and psychologically. Our results show that the pressures to conform to societal beauty standards can lead to an obsession with appearance, which, in turn, may result in mental health challenges such as anxiety, body dysmorphia, and depression. This article argues that while the beauty business thrives on society's idealistic vision of attractiveness, it comes at a cost. The commodification of beauty has not only reshaped cultural values but also introduced health risks that must be critically assessed.

This study aims to examine the validity of prescribed AI-generated exercise interventions for general health and weight loss. This study developed an AI-generated exercise program using the Delphi method. The Delphi process involved administering a structured questionnaire within the relevant domain, whereby a panel of experts evaluated the appropriateness of the program. To assess validity, three established measures were employed: the Content Validity Ratio (CVR), the Content Validity Index (CVI), and the Impact Score (IS). In addition, the Fleiss’ Kappa coefficient (κ) was calculated to determine the degree of agreement (reliability) among the experts. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS software version 27 and Microsoft Excel. The IS indicates that all exercises achieved the required level of validity. Also, based on the CVI and CVR, all exercises demonstrated acceptable content validity for general health and weight loss. However, the negative kappa value suggests poor agreement among the experts for the mentioned variables. The findings indicate that while platforms such as ChatGPT-4o can produce broadly appropriate exercise content, expert agreement on the validity of these protocols was very low. Accordingly, AI should be viewed as a supplementary tool that can assist in designing individualized health and weight management programs.