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Obesity and associated factors in a Palestinian West Bank village population

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 55, pages 805–811 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To describe body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and waist-hip ratio in a Palestinian West Bank village population, and to assess the associations of these variables to blood pressure and serum lipids.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Community-based study in a prototypic semi-rural Palestinian village in the central West Bank.

Subjects: All individuals aged 30–65 y in the study village were invited for the study and 500 (85%) participated.

Main outcome measures: BMI≥30 was used as the measure of obesity.

Results: The prevalence of obesity was 37.5% among women and 18.8% among men. The prevalence of abdominal obesity was 62.5% among women and 14.8% among men. BMI seemed to be the more important correlate of blood pressure whereas waist–hip ratio seemed to be the more important correlate of serum triglycerides, compared to the other obesity measures.

Conclusions: The prevalence of obesity in the study population was very high compared to most other countries in the world, particularly among women.

Sponsorship: The study was funded by the Norwegian Universities' Committee for Development Research (NUFU). LCM Stene was supported by a grant from the Throne Holst Foundation.

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2001) 55, 805–811

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Acknowledgements

The study was funded by the Norwegian Universities' Committee for Development Research (NUFU). LCM Stene was supported by a grant from Throne Holst Foundation. We would like to thank Jinan Bargouthi and Amy Schmidt for their discussions and help with data entry.

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Author notes

  1. LCM Stene and G Holmboe-Ottesen: Guarantors: LCM Stene and G Holmboe-Ottesen.

  2. LCM Stene, R Giacaman, H Abdul-Rahim, A Husseini, KR Norum and G Holmboe-Ottesen: Contributors: RG and GH-O are the principal investigators. AH was responsible for the data collection. RG, GH-O, KRN and AH designed the study. LCMS designed the analysis strategy, carried out the data analyses, and wrote the paper. All contributors helped interpreting the data and gave comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Nutrition Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    LCM Stene & KR Norum

  2. Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, Birzeit, West Bank

    R Giacaman, H Abdul-Rahim & A Husseini

  3. Department of Preventive Medicine, Institute of General Practice and Community Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    G Holmboe-Ottesen

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  1. LCM Stene
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  2. R Giacaman
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  3. H Abdul-Rahim
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  4. A Husseini
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  5. KR Norum
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  6. G Holmboe-Ottesen
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Correspondence to LCM Stene.

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Stene, L., Giacaman, R., Abdul-Rahim, H. et al. Obesity and associated factors in a Palestinian West Bank village population. Eur J Clin Nutr 55, 805–811 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601230

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