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The purpose of this study is to explore the association between intake of different types of dietary fats with breast cancer (BC) risk in Iranian women.

A total of 540 women (180 women with BC and 360 healthy women) were recruited from Shohadaye Tajrish hospital, Tehran, Iran. Data on anthropometric measurements, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption were collected. The food frequency questionnaire was used to assess the intake of fatty acids including saturated fatty acids, mono unsaturated fatty acids, poly unsaturated fatty acids, macronutrients, total fat, cholesterol, and calorie.

The cases had significantly higher BMI (29.19 ± 3.2 vs 27.27 kg/m2 ± 2.8) and higher intake of calorie (2737 ± 925 vs 2315 ± 1066 kcal/d, P = 0.01), carbohydrate (402 ± 125 vs 312 ± 170 kcal/d, P = 0.01) and ω−6 fatty acids (5.45 ± 6.9 vs 3.39 ± 0.59 g/d, P = 0.001) compared to the control group . Higher consumption of ω−6 fatty acids was related with higher risk of BC (OR = 5.429, CI95%:2.5–11.79, P = 0.001) The association between BC and intake of omega-6 fatty acids remained significant after adjustments for age, BMI, for using alcohol drinks, smoking, physical activity, calorie intake, protein intake and carbohydrate intake.

There are insufficient studies to investigate the association of different types of fatty acids with BC. This study found that higher omega-6 fatty acids intake was associated with increased risk of BC in women.

Deficiencies or imbalances in dietary fat intake may influence on mental and neurological functions of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study aims to compare body mass index (BMI) and the amount of fatty acids intake in the autistic patients with the comparison group.

This case-control was carried out on 200 randomly selected children from 5 to 15 years old (100 autistic patients as the case group and 100 healthy children as the comparison group) in Tehran, Iran. The food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess the intake of calorie, macronutrients and different types of dietary fatty acids including saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), linoleic acid (LA), α-Linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and trans fatty acids.

The autistic patients had higher BMI, birth weight and mother’s BMI compared to the comparison group (All p < 0.01). No significant difference was found in the amount of dietary calorie, protein, carbohydrate and total fat intake between two groups. The risk of ASD was associated with higher intake of MUFAs (OR: 3.18, CI%:1.13–4.56, p = 0.04), PUFAs (OR: 4.12, CI95%: 2.01–6.25, p < 0.01) and LA (OR: 4.76, CI95%: 1.34–14.32, p < 0.01).

The autistic children had higher BMI and higher intake of unsaturated fatty acids except for omega-3 fatty acids. Further longitudinal studies are warranted.