Preferred Abstract (Original):
Abstract
Objective: To describe the food habits and physical (in)activity patterns and to
investigate the relationship with sociodemographic factors among Palestinian
adolescents.
Design and subjects: The Palestinian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children
(HBSC) is a cross-sectional survey of grades 6, 8, 10 and 12. Students completed a
modified version of the international HBSCquestionnaire. Atotal of 8885 students were
included in this analysis; 53% were from the West Bank and 47% from the Gaza Strip.
Results: Adolescents in the West Bank consume more fruit, meat, chicken, sweets and
soft drinks, but less vegetables than adolescents in Gaza (P , 0.01). Girls reported
more daily consumption of fruit, vegetables and sweets than boys (P , 0.001), and less
consumption of soft drinks, milk, meat and chicken (P , 0.01). Boys were physically
more active than girls (P , 0.01), whereas girls reported doing more homework
(P , 0.001). Both boys and girls reported less physical activity with increasing age
(P , 0.001). Consumption of fruit and milk was positively associated with both
parents’ education, while consumption of meat, chicken and soft drinks was positively
associated with mother’s education only. Having breakfast on schooldays was
positively associated with the father’s education. Physical activity and television
viewing were associated with the mother’s education (P , 0.01). The parents’ level of
education had no effect on vegetable consumption and dieting status.
Conclusion: This study indicated that there are problems with Palestinian adolescents’
eating, dieting and physical activity. Regional, gender and parental socio-economic
status differences should be taken into account in developing interventions. More
detailed studies are needed with more elaborate instruments about food habits and
physical activity of adolescents.