Sociodemographic correlates of food habits among school adolescents (12–15 year) in north Gaza Strip

BMC Public Health

Table 5 Mean food score times per week by sociodemographic factors among Palestinian adolescents in North Gaza Strip (n = 944)

Sociodemographic factor	Animal foods^a		Milk foods^b		F/V foods^c		Sweet foods^d		Western foods^e		Traditional foods^f
	Mean	p	Mean	p	Mean	p	Mean	p	Mean	p	Mean	p
Gender (n = 944)
Boys	7.29	0.10	10.19	0.33	7.99	0.02	10.07	0.13	12.13	0.02	9.03	0.11
Girls	6.65		11.03		9.03		11.04		13.88		7.97
Resident status (n = 940)
Local citizen	5.61	<0.001	8.64	<0.001	6.70	0.001	8.35	<0.001	9.46	<0.001	7.63	0.04
Refugee	7.84		11.97		9.74		12.08		15.47		9.06
Residential area (n = 944)
Gaza (well-off)	8.07	<0.001	14.46	<0.001	9.66	0.001	12.70	<0.001	17.44	<0.001	8.39	0.01
Gaza (non-well-off)	4.96		7.87		6.25		7.40		8.08		7.26
Village	6.47		8.25		7.32		8.30		9.94		7.66
Camp	7.25		8.17		9.66		11.58		12.33		10.36
Age in years
12 yrs	7.32	0.52	11.65	0.54	7.81	0.004	11.21	0.45	14.22	0.50	9.00	0.71
13 yrs	6.54		11.03		7.69		10.02		12.51		8.59
14 yrs	7.13		9.98		9.44		10.41		12.98		8.46
15 yrs	6.98		10.22		9.01		11.30		13.08		7.74
Crowding Index (n = 835)
≤ 3 persons/room	7.56	<0.001	12.01	<0.001	9.10	0.001	11.48	<0.001	14.61	<0.001	8.69	0.39
>3 persons/room	5.68		7.58		7.47		8.39		9.79		8.01
Father's working Status (n = 931)
Unemployed	5.65	<0.001	8.11	<0.001	7.50	<0.001	9.13	<0.001	10.22	<0.001	8.36	0.68
Employed	8.09		12.80		9.42		11.89		15.47		8.63
Household SES (n = 918)
Low	5.44	<0.001	6.17	<0.001	6.82	<0.001	7.60	<0.001	8.63	<0.001	7.93	0.54
medium	6.81		10.35		8.57		10.63		13.12		8.68
High	9.03		15.88		10.40		13.85		18.18		8.91
Father's education (n = 921)
Low	5.81	<0.001	9.33	<0.001	7.44	<0.001	9.29	<0.001	11.15	<0.001	8.23	0.50
Medium	8.39		11.97		9.71		12.29		14.84		9.14
High	8.01		11.98		9.90		11.65		15.43		8.33
Mother's education (n = 923)
Low	6.22	<0.001	9.25	<0.001	7.99	0.003	10.03	0.048	11.47	<0.001	8.72	0.42
Medium/High	7.97		12.35		9.28		11.33		15.10		8.18

^a Animal foods includes weekly consumptions of beef, turkey/chicken, liver, fish, hamburger, shawerma/kebab, canned meat and eggs.
^b Milk foods includes weekly consumptions of milk, yogurt, white cheese, yellow cheese and lebneh.
^c Fruits and vegetables includes weekly consumptions of fruits, fruits juice, salad and fresh and cooked vegetable (tomatoes and cucumbers are not included).
^d Sweet foods includes weekly consumptions of honey, jam, jelly, cookies, kunafeh, chocolates, biscuits and soft drinks.
^e Western foods includes weekly consumptions of hamburger, canned meat, macaroni, yellow cheese, soft drinks, pizza and potato chips.
^f Traditional foods includes weekly consumptions of lintels, hommos, falafel and fava beans.
ONE WAY ANOVA was used to compare difference among groups.

ISSN: 1471-2458