Sociodemographic correlates of food habits among school adolescents (1215 year) in north Gaza Strip
Date
2009-06-15
Authors
Abudayya, Abdallah H
Stigum, Hein
Shi, Zumin
Abed, Yehia
Holmboe-Ottesen, Gerd
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Background: There is little information about meal patterns and food consumption of adolescents
in Palestine. The objective of this study was to describe the association between sociodemographic
factors and food intake, and meal patterns among Palestinian school adolescents (12–15 year) in
North Gaza Strip.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2002 comprising 944 subjects in 10 schools
in Gaza city, Jabalia village and Jabalia refugee camp. Self-administered questionnaires were filled in
by students and parents to obtain data on frequency of meals, food intake and sociodemographic
characteristics.
Results: High household socioeconomic status (SES) was associated with the increased number of
meals and the increased intakes of many nutritious foods such as; animal food items, fruits and
vegetables and dairy foods. The percentage of adolescents having breakfast daily of high and low
SES was 74.5% vs 55% in boys and 65.6% vs 45% in girls. The percentage of girls with refugee status
who had lunch was higher (90.2%) compared to the local citizen girls (83.9%), (p = 0.03). Girls were
less likely to skip daily lunch (OR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.36–0.87, p = 0.01) compared to boys. Risk of
skipping lunch was three times higher among adolescents living in the village compared to Gaza
well-off area (OR = 3.3, 95% CI = 1.72–6.31, p < 0.001). Adolescents who were having lunch daily
were less likely to skip breakfast or dinner. Only 11.6% of boys and 16.2% of girls consumed fruits
daily. In multivariate analysis, SES was positively associated with food frequency intake scores in
both genders. Boys from the refugee camp and the village had a significant higher consumption of
fruits and vegetables than boys from high and low income area in Gaza City, while it was the
opposite in girls.
Conclusion: Meal skipping is common, particularly among those of low SES and the intakes of
many nutritious foods such as animal food items, fruits and vegetables and dairy foods seem to be
low among adolescents of low SES. The results of this study could be used as an important baseline
for future monitoring of the nutritional situation of adolescents.