Table 2.
General characteristics of parents, overall and by gender.
| Parent participant | Overall (n = 5,401) | Father (n = 1739; 32.2%) | Mother (n = 3,661; 67.8%) | Value of p | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean ± SD | Mean ± SD | Mean ± SD | |||||
| Age: (Year) | 45 ± 9.1 | 49 ± 10 | 43 ± 8 | <0.001 | |||
| n | % | n | % | n | % | ||
| Country of nationality | <0.001 | ||||||
| Lebanon | 594 | 11.0 | 201 | 11.6 | 392 | 10.7 | |
| Bahrain | 507 | 9.4 | 181 | 10.4 | 326 | 8.9 | |
| Egypt | 657 | 12.2 | 125 | 7.2 | 532 | 14.5 | |
| Jordan | 563 | 10.4 | 187 | 10.8 | 376 | 10.3 | |
| Kuwait | 483 | 8.9 | 98 | 5.6 | 385 | 10.5 | |
| Morocco | 590 | 10.9 | 379 | 21.8 | 210 | 5.7 | |
| Palestine | 517 | 9.6 | 142 | 8.2 | 375 | 10.2 | |
| Qatar | 549 | 10.2 | 135 | 7.8 | 414 | 11.3 | |
| Saudi Arabia | 491 | 9.1 | 136 | 7.8 | 355 | 9.7 | |
| United Arab Emirates | 450 | 8.3 | 154 | 8.9 | 296 | 8.1 | |
| Weight status | <0.001 | ||||||
| Underweight | 121 | 2.2 | 47 | 2.7 | 74 | 2.0 | |
| Normal-weight | 1789 | 33.1 | 668 | 38.4 | 1,121 | 30.6 | |
| Overweight | 2069 | 38.3 | 670 | 38.5 | 1,399 | 38.2 | |
| Obese | 1,422 | 26.3 | 355 | 20.4 | 1,067 | 29.2 | |
| Marital status | 0.002 | ||||||
| Married | 4,885 | 90.5 | 1,605 | 92.3 | 3,280 | 89.6 | |
| Divorced | 284 | 5.2 | 65 | 3.8 | 218 | 218 | |
| Widowed | 232 | 4.3 | 69 | 4.0 | 163 | 163 | |
| Number of children | <0.001 | ||||||
| 1 | 508 | 9.4 | 178 | 10.3 | 329 | 9.0 | |
| 2–3 | 2,790 | 51.7 | 974 | 56.0 | 1816 | 49.6 | |
| >3 | 2,103 | 38.9 | 587 | 33.7 | 1,516 | 41.4 | |
| Education level | <0.001 | ||||||
| Never attend school | 234 | 4.3 | 96 | 5.5 | 138 | 3.8 | |
| Elementary school level | 302 | 5.6 | 144 | 8.3 | 158 | 4.3 | |
| Intermediate school level | 355 | 6.6 | 113 | 6.5 | 242 | 6.6 | |
| Secondary school level | 1,198 | 22.2 | 410 | 23.6 | 788 | 21.5 | |
| University level | 3,312 | 61.3 | 976 | 56.1 | 2,336 | 63.8 | |
| Spouses’ education level | <0.001 | ||||||
| Never attend school | 325 | 6.0 | 218 | 12.5 | 107 | 2.9 | |
| Elementary school level | 347 | 6.4 | 172 | 9.9 | 175 | 4.8 | |
| Intermediate school level | 383 | 7.1 | 111 | 6.4 | 272 | 7.4 | |
| Secondary school level | 1,244 | 23.0 | 407 | 23.4 | 836 | 22.8 | |
| University level | 3,102 | 57.4 | 831 | 47.8 | 2,271 | 62.0 | |
| Job status | <0.001 | ||||||
| No job | 2,117 | 39.2 | 295 | 16.9 | 1822 | 49.7 | |
| Full-time job | 1851 | 34.3 | 820 | 47.2 | 1,031 | 28.2 | |
| Part-time job | 532 | 9.9 | 195 | 11.2 | 337 | 9.2 | |
| Self-employed | 901 | 16.7 | 429 | 24.7 | 472 | 12.9 | |
| Prevalence of chronic diseases (N = 2,776 diseased parents; n males = 942; n females = 1834) | |||||||
| Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) | 230 | 8.3 | 90 | 9.5 | 140 | 7.6 | 0.02 |
| Diabetes | 603 | 21.7 | 264 | 28.0 | 339 | 18.5 | <0.001 |
| Hypertension | 693 | 25.0 | 303 | 32.2 | 390 | 21.3 | <0.001 |
| Chronic kidney diseases (CKD) | 91 | 3.3 | 36 | 3.8 | 55 | 3.0 | 0.13 |
| Liver diseases | 69 | 2.4 | 31 | 3.3 | 38 | 2.1 | 0.03 |
| Osteoporosis | 125 | 4.5 | 22 | 2.3 | 103 | 5.6 | <0.001 |
| Cancer | 39 | 1.4 | 10 | 1.1 | 29 | 1.6 | 0.26 |
| Respiratory diseases | 199 | 7.2 | 65 | 7.0 | 134 | 7.3 | 0.89 |
| Anemia | 494 | 17.8 | 79 | 8.4 | 415 | 22.6 | <0.001 |
| Others | 233 | 8.4 | 42 | 4.4 | 191 | 10.4 | <0.001 |
| Household crowding index* | |||||||
| ≤1a | 3,196 | 59.2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| >1b | 1,011 | 18.7 | – | – | – | – | – |
| >1.5c | 1,194 | 22.1 | – | – | – | – | – |
*Number of co-residents (excluding newborns) divided by number of rooms (excluding kitchens and bathrooms). aNo crowding. bCrowded. cOver-crowded.