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 4 Sample and population weighted results of stunting, underweight and overweight/obesity of Palestinian girls from Ramallah and Hebron governorates by sociodemographic characteristics (n = 1047)

	Ramallah governorate				Hebron governorate
	n	Stunting %	Underweight %	Overweight/ obese^a %	n	Stunting %	Underweight %	Overweight/ obese^a %
Residence
Urban	176	1.9**	3.3	24.0	354	3.4	6.8	18.6
Rural	309	7.9	3.1	20.7	182	6.0	5.0	14.2
Age in years
13	207	5.6	1.9	22.1	150	6.0^e	7.4	20.7
14	224	6.3	4.7	21.9	274	4.7	4.4	16.1
15	67	5.2	1.0	20.2	125	1.0	8.0	14.4
Mother's education
Low	355	6.0	2.6	22.2	413	5.1	6.3	16.4
Medium/High	139	5.2	4.6	19.4	109	0.9	6.5	17.4
Father's education
Low	287	5.7	3.5	23.8	347	4.6	6.3	17.8
Medium	88	6.5	1.7	15.7	85	4.7	7.0	13.0
High	115	5.9	3.1	19.2	89	2.2	5.6	14.6
Family size
1-6 persons	111	2.8	1.4	29.1^e	59	5.1	5.1	18.4
7-8 persons	159	6.1	3.6	24.7	189	4.8	6.4	17.5
> 8 persons	216	7.0	3.5	16.9	277	3.6	6.5	15.5
Household STL ^b
Low	100	8.4	4.0	12.7^e	176	7.9**	5.1	14.8
Medium	216	6.4	2.5	21.8	287	2.4	6.6	18.1
High	133	3.6	3.3	26.2	76	2.7	6.6	18.3
Present household economic situation index ^c
Worse off	91	5.2	1.8	26.1	163	3.6	8.0	15.4
Medium	270	6.2	3.4	20.5	274	5.1	5.5	16.0
Better off	113	5.7	4.0	16.8	67	3.0	7.5	17.9
Food availability ^d
Not available	165	4.0	2.7	26.6	255	4.7	7.1	15.7
Available	327	6.8	3.3	19.0	269	3.7	5.6	17.4
Onset of puberty
No	100	15.6**	6.4	11.5**	84	10.6**	20.3	3.7***
Yes	389	4.2	2.5	23.5	465	3.0	3.5	19.3

*P < 0.05 **P < 0.01 *** P < 0.001
^e P for trend < 0.05
^aOverweight/obesity were defined using the 2000 CDC reference.
^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 d 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?".
^dFood availability was based on the question: is there enough food for all family members on daily basis now?

ISSN: 1471-2458