Dear Dr. Omidvar,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Ahmad Neyazi

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal requirements:

When submitting your revision, we need you to address these additional requirements.

1. Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. The PLOS ONE style templates can be found at

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/file?id=wjVg/PLOSOne_formatting_sample_main_body.pdf and

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/file?id=ba62/PLOSOne_formatting_sample_title_authors_affiliations.pdf

2. We note that you have indicated that there are restrictions to data sharing for this study. For studies involving human research participant data or other sensitive data, we encourage authors to share de-identified or anonymized data. However, when data cannot be publicly shared for ethical reasons, we allow authors to make their data sets available upon request. For information on unacceptable data access restrictions, please see http://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/data-availability#loc-unacceptable-data-access-restrictions.

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Please update your Data Availability statement in the submission form accordingly.

3. Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

Additional Editor Comments (if provided):

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: The manuscript is well-written and presents important insights. To further enhance its quality and impact, the following suggestions are offered:

1. Consider incorporating information on health literacy, such as mental health literacy (e.g., DOI: 10.56101/rimj.v3i1.91) and literacy related to specific diseases (e.g., DOI: 10.56101/rimj.v3i1.75), from other countries. This addition would make the literature review more comprehensive.

2. Clearly outline how this study builds on existing research and addresses knowledge gaps, particularly regarding the mediating role of health literacy in mothers' knowledge and practices of iron supplementation.

3. Broaden the discussion of findings in comparison to previous studies. Highlight any unique insights or significant discrepancies to provide a richer context.

4. Expand on the implications of health literacy for broader public health strategies, especially in the context of other nutritional interventions.

5. Include a more detailed explanation of the study’s limitations, specifically addressing how recall bias and selection bias (resulting from the convenience sampling method) may have influenced the findings.

6. Offer specific suggestions for future research that could address these limitations and advance the field.

7. Provide more actionable recommendations based on the findings, such as developing tailored health literacy interventions for underperforming groups.

8. Enhance the clarity of tables and figures by including more descriptive captions and offering detailed interpretations in the text.

9. Elaborate on the sample size calculation and explain how it ensures sufficient statistical power for all analyses performed.

10. Expand the discussion of questionnaire validation processes beyond Cronbach’s alpha, describing any pilot testing or iterative refinements.

11. Offer a more detailed explanation of the statistical methods used for mediation analysis, emphasizing their rigor and the robustness of the findings.

12. Discuss in greater depth how the sample reflects the broader population and what this means for the generalizability of the study’s conclusions.

13. Ensure consistent use of technical terms and minimize redundancy, particularly in the Introduction and Results sections, to improve readability and focus.

Reviewer #2: This manuscript is well-written and demonstrates a high standard of scholarly work. It meets the criteria for publication and is suitable for acceptance in its current form without the need for further revisions.

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what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/ . PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org

The role of health literacy in the relationship between mothers’ knowledge and practices of iron supplementation in children (aged 12 to 24 months): A structural equation model

PONE-D-24-36544R1

Dear Dr. Omidvar,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

An invoice will be generated when your article is formally accepted. Please note, if your institution has a publishing partnership with PLOS and your article meets the relevant criteria, all or part of your publication costs will be covered. Please make sure your user information is up-to-date by logging into Editorial Manager at Editorial Manager®  and clicking the ‘Update My Information' link at the top of the page. If you have any questions relating to publication charges, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Ahmad Neyazi

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Thank you for revising the manuscript. After careful consideration of the reviewers' comments, I am pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been accepted for publication.

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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Reviewer #1: Thank you for this outstanding work. I believe it is now ready for publication in th PLOS One journal.

Reviewer #2: Thank you for sending the manuscript again for review. The current revision is much better and acceptable for being published.

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what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy

Reviewer #1: Yes:  Abdul Qadim Mohammadi

Reviewer #2: Yes:  Nosaibah Razaqi

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