Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of stunting, underweight, and overweight among Palestinian school adolescents (13-15 years) in two major governorates in the West Bank

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of the study sample

	Ramallah governorate	Hebron governorate
Sociodemographic factors	n = 935	n = 1007	P^a
	% (n)	% (n)
Gender
Boys	46.7 (437)	45.5 (458)
Girls	53.3 (498)	54.5 (549)	0.919
Location of residence
Urban	41.0 (373)	67.8 (663)
Rural	59.0 (537)	32.2 (315)	0.032
Age in years
13	41.4 (387)	32.9 (331)
14	44.5 (416)	48.0 (484)
15	14.1 (132)	19.1 (192)	0.257
Mother's education
Less than secondary school	72.7 (662)	77.2 (729)
Secondary school/college or university or higher	27.3 (249)	22.8 (215)	0.322
Father's education
Less than secondary school	61.4 (557)	66.3 (625)
Secondary school	16.7 (152)	15.3 (144)
College or university	21.9 (199)	18.4 (173)	0.299
Family size
Mean ± SD	8.1 ± 2.4	8.9 ± 2.5	0.001
1-6 persons	27.6 (240)	12.5 (118)
7-8 persons	34.7 (301)	37.6 (355)
> 8 persons	37.7 (327)	49.9 (472)	< 0.001
Household STL ^b
Mean ± SD	9.2 ± 2.9	8.0 ± 2.8	0.002
Low (0-6)	18.3 (156)	29.5 (292)
Medium (7-10)	48.9 (418)	52.4 (518)
High (11-16)	32.8 (280)	18.1 (179)	0.003
Present household economic situation index ^c
Worse off (14-20)	17.9 (159)	30.7 (283)
Medium (7-13)	56.5 (503)	54.1 (498)
Better off (4-6)	25.6 (228)	15.2 (140)	< 0.001

SD: Standard deviation
^aP for the comparison between governorates using χ² tests for categorical variables and t-tests for means.
^bHousehold standard of living index (STL) was based on the possession of 16 household amenities; each item given a value of 1.
^cPresent household economic situation index was formulated based on 4 questions: - "Do you have enough money to cover family needs now?" "At the present time, do you have any debts?" At the present time, to what extent do you have to postpone paying bills?" and "During the past school year, did you have to borrow money to cover family needs?"

ISSN: 1471-2458