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Table 1 Socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics of Lebanese children aged 4 to 13 years, by age group

From: Food and nutrient intake of school-aged children in Lebanon and their adherence to dietary guidelines and recommendations

Age group (years)

4 to 13

4 to 8

9 to 13

P-value

n

%

n

%

n

%

771

100

390

50.6

381

49.4

Sociodemographic Characteristics

Sex

 Boys

400

51.9

196

50.3

204

53.5

0.361

 Girls

371

48.1

194

49.7

177

46.5

Governorate

 Beirut

92

11.9

54

13.8

38

10.0

0.313

 Mount Lebanon

302

39.2

154

39.5

148

38.8

 North Lebanon

148

19.2

68

17.4

80

21.0

 South and Nabatieh

130

16.9

61

15.6

69

18.1

 Bekaa

99

12.8

53

13.6

46

12.1

Household monthly income (Lebanese pounds) a

 < 1,000,000

312

40.5

153

39.2

159

41.7

0.421

 1,000,000–2,000,000

289

37.5

156

40.0

133

34.9

  > 2,000–000

159

20.6

77

19.7

82

21.5

 Do not know / Refused to answer

11

1.4

4

1.0

7

1.8

Crowding Index

 < 2 persons/room

539

70.1

275

70.9

264

69.3

0.631

  ≥ 2 persons/room

230

29.9

113

29.1

117

30.7

Education of mother

 Less than elementary b

14

1.8

3

0.8

11

2.9

0.037

 Elementary-secondary c

586

76.0

292

74.9

294

77.2

 College

171

22.2

95

24.4

76

19.9

Education of father

 Less than elementary b

25

3.3

13

3.3

12

3.2

0.933

 Elementary-secondary c

632

82.5

319

82.0

313

83.0

 College

109

14.2

57

14.6

52

13.8

Mother employed

 Yes

194

25.2

106

27.2

88

23.1

0.185

 No

576

74.8

283

72.8

293

76.9

Father employed

 Yes

739

96.6

376

96.7

363

96.5

0.930

 No

26

3.4

13

3.3

13

3.5

Anthropometric Characteristics

Height for age d

 Stunted (HAZ < -2SD)

30

3.9

22

5.7

8

2.1

0.011

  Not stunted

740

96.1

367

94.3

373

97.9

BMI Status e

 Wasted (BAZ < -2SD)

6

0.8

3

0.8

3

0.8

0.238

 Normal

426

55.4

229

59.0

197

51.7

 At risk of overweight/Overweight f(BAZ >  + 1SD)

182

23.7

85

21.9

97

25.5

 Obese (BAZ >  + 2SD)

155

20.2

71

18.3

84

22.0

  1. a USD = 1, 500 Lebanese pounds (indicated rate was at the time of data collection – 2014–2015
  2. b Less than elementary includes being illiterate, not attending school, or being able to read and write only
  3. c Elementary to secondary includes primary school, intermediate school, high school, or technical diploma
  4. d Stunted if Height-for-age z-score (HAZ) < -2, not stunted if HAZ ≥ -2
  5. e Anthropometric measurements (including BMI-for-age z-score (BAZ)) of children were categorized based
  6. on the World Health Organization (WHO) classification
  7. and cut-off values[45, 46]
  8. f Among 4–5 years children (n = 72), 17 were at risk of overweight