BMC Public Health 2009, 9:485 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/9/485 Table 3: Sample and population weighted results of stunting, underweight and overweight/obesity of Palestinian boys from Ramallah and Hebron governorates by sociodemographic characteristics (n = 895) Ramallah governorate Hebron governorate n Stunting % Underweight % Overweight/ obesea % Stunting % Underweight % Overweight/ obesea % n 309 133 181 210 67 316 106 278 59 84 59 166 195 116 231 103 120 224 73 193 229 92 365 9.4 10.6 7.2 10.5 11.9 8.2 10.5 9.7 13.6 2.4 5.1 8.4 10.3 9.5 9.1 7.8 13.4* 8.5 2.8 10.9 7.0 15.2 8.0 10.6 18.9 12.2 12.9 14.8 11.4 17.0 13.2 6.8 15.6 11.8 10.2 15.4 16.5 14.3 4.8 15.8 12.5 9.6 14.5 11.3 25.0 9.9 15.3* 6.8 11.1 13.3 19.4 14.3 9.4 13.8 13.6 10.7 11.8 16.9 9.8 9.6 9.5 25.3*** 15.2 10.3 17.8 11.5 14.4 7.6** 14.6 Residence Urban 197 4.8* 9.4 Rural 228 13.1 9.6 Age in years 13 180 7.2 9.4 14 192 9.4 12.1 15 65 10.7 5.2 Mother's education Low 307 10.8* 10.1 Medium/High 110 3.5 9.0 Father's education Low 270 11.6 10.2 Medium 64 5.1 10.2 High 84 5.0 9.0 Family size 1-6 persons 129 5.4 6.6 7-8 persons 142 10.8 11.3 > 8 persons 111 11.8 14.3 Household STLb Low 56 15.5e 7.0 Medium 202 10.7 12.3 High 147 3.1 6.7 Present household economic situation indexc Worse off 68 8.8 11.0 Medium 233 11.5 10.9 Better off 115 5.8 6.6 Food availabilityd Not available 128 13.5** 13.2 Available 292 7.5 8.8 Onset of puberty No 74 16.6* 14.2 Yes 363 7.8 9.0 21.2 15.8 21.1 15.0 18.8 16.2 23.2 14.4 32.4 17.6 25.6e 20.0 10.0 9.2* e 15.4 25.1 12.8 14.8 26.5 11.7 20.6 17.2 17.9 *P < 0.05 **P < 0.01 ***P < 0.001 eP 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 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? population (58.6 in Ramallah and 54.9 in Hebron); while among boys the mean BMI percentile was below (47.2 in Ramallah and 42.0 in Hebron) (Table 2). nificantly associated with urban residence, high house- hold STL and was significantly higher among those who have reached puberty. Tables (3, 4) present the factors associated with over- weight/obesity among boys and girls as defined by the 2000 CDC reference. Among boys in Ramallah, over- weight/obesity was significantly higher among those with high STL (25.1%) versus those with medium (15.4%) and low STL (9.2%). A significant positive trend of increase in overweight/obesity was noted with decrease in family size. Among boys in Hebron, overweight/obesity was sig- Among girls, a significant positive trend of increase in overweight/obesity was noted with decrease in family size and increase in household STL in Ramallah but not in Hebron. In both governorates, girls who had reached puberty had significantly higher prevalence of over- weight/obesity than those who have not yet reached puberty. Page 7 of 12 (page number not for citation purposes)