Nutrients
Volume 10, Issue 8, 2018

Metabolic syndrome among refugee women from the west bank, Palestine: A cross-sectional study (Article) (Open Access)

Massad S.G.* , Khalili M. , Karmally W. , Abdalla M. , Khammash U. , Mehari G.-M. , Deckelbaum R.J.
  • a Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States
  • b United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Jerusalem 972, Palestine
  • c Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, United States
  • d Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, United States
  • e Juzoor for Health and Social Development, Ramallah970, Palestine
  • f Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Pediatrics, University Hospital, Uppsala, SE-751 85, Sweden
  • g Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States

Abstract

This study was carried out among Palestinian refugee women in the West Bank to provide data on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its correlates. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional study of 1694 randomly selected refugee women from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) health centers throughout the West Bank during June and July 2010. In this cohort, 30% of the refugee women were overweight, 39% were obese, and 7% were extremely obese. Based on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, the age-adjusted prevalence of MetS was 19.8%. The results of the binary logistic regression analysis indicated that older age and younger marital age were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of MetS in the women. The high prevalence of obesity and MetS mandates the implementation of national policies for its prevention, notably by initiating large-scale community intervention programs for 5.2 million refugees in Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, to tackle obesity and increase the age at marriage. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Author Keywords

Metabolic syndrome Obesity Women Refugee Palestine

Index Keywords

Blood Glucose household refugee metabolic syndrome X metabolism low density lipoprotein cholesterol Jordan Waist Circumference Metabolic Syndrome human Refugees middle aged controlled study obesity hypertension Aged Arab Arabs Palestine Cross-Sectional Studies Young Adult Lebanon social status cross-sectional study Humans Adolescent female Aged, 80 and over Socioeconomic Factors very elderly risk factor socioeconomics prevalence cholesterol Article blood glucose blood level major clinical study adult health education high density lipoprotein cholesterol triacylglycerol world health organization parity retrospective study body mass systolic blood pressure Body Mass Index diastolic blood pressure employment Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85052303118&doi=10.3390%2fnu10081118&partnerID=40&md5=a32823f32bcd2693072e15f102fea149
DOI: 10.3390/nu10081118
ISSN: 20726643
Cited by: 2
Original Language: English