Table 1.
Socio-demographic, lifestyle, anthropometric, and dietary characteristics of study sample ≥20 years (n = 2608)
| Variable | Men (n = 1222) | Women (n = 1386) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) ≥20 | |||||
| Socio-demographic characteristics | |||||
| % | n | % | n | P-Value* | |
| Governorates | |||||
| Capital (Beirut) | 12.6 | 159 | 9.2 | 128 | .002 |
| Other | 87.4 | 1062 | 90.8 | 1258 | |
| Marital status | |||||
| Single | 38.6 | 471 | 25.3 | 351 | .000 |
| Married | 58.1 | 709 | 62.5 | 865 | |
| Divorced, separated, widowed | 3.4 | 41 | 12.2 | 169 | |
| Educational | |||||
| Preliminary or less | 22.0 | 269 | 20.6 | 286 | .612 |
| Complimentary | 25.3 | 309 | 24.3 | 336 | |
| High school/Diploma | 24.1 | 295 | 26.0 | 360 | |
| University | 28.6 | 349 | 29.1 | 404 | |
| Household assets | |||||
| <7 items | 44.8 | 544 | 57.5 | 792 | .000 |
| ≥ = 7 items | 55.2 | 669 | 42.5 | 585 | |
| Crowding index | |||||
| CI < 1 person/room | 39.5 | 481 | 35.7 | 492 | .042 |
| CI ≥ 1 person/room | 60.5 | 736 | 64.3 | 888 | |
| Family history of obesity | |||||
| No | 61.9 | 757 | 54.2 | 746 | .000 |
| Yes | 38.1 | 463 | 45.8 | 636 | |
| Lifestyle characteristics | |||||
| % | n | % | n | P-Value* | |
| Smoking | |||||
| No | 31.5 | 385 | 49.9 | 692 | .000 |
| Yes | 68.5 | 837 | 50.1 | 694 | |
| Physical activity | |||||
| Low | 48.0 | 570 | 43.4 | 591 | .009 |
| Moderate | 28.5 | 338 | 34.0 | 463 | |
| High | 23.5 | 279 | 22.6 | 307 | |
| Meals pattern | |||||
| Skips 1 or more meals a day | 49.5 | 604 | 56.2 | 778 | .000 |
| Eats regular 3 meals a day | 50.5 | 615 | 43.8 | 606 | |
| Anthropometric characteristics | |||||
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | P-Value* | |
| Weight (kg) | 82.5 | 15.5 | 68.5 | 14.2 | .000 |
| Height (cm) | 173.1 | 7.4 | 159.2 | 6.4 | .000 |
| BMI (Kg/m 2 ) | 27.5 | 4.7 | 27.1 | 5.8 | .048 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 94.9 | 12.9 | 86.5 | 14.3 | .000 |
| % Body fat | 26.4 | 6.8 | 35.6 | 6.3 | .000 |
| Dietary characteristics | |||||
| (n = 1193) | (n = 1347) | ||||
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | P-Value* | |
| Energy (Kjoules) | 10273 | 5603 | 7024 | 3660 | .000 |
| % Fat | 36.8 | 10.1 | 37.5 | 11.1 | .000 |
| % Protein | 14.8 | 5.0 | 14.5 | 5.2 | .000 |
| % Carbohydrate | 48.2 | 11.4 | 49.2 | 11.8 | .000 |
*Significant at p < 0.05.
*Differences across gender were examined using t-test and chi-square.