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Table 1 Descriptive characteristics of the study population by population group, The 2nd National Health and Nutrition youth survey, 2015–2016

From: Disordered eating among Arab and Jewish youth in Israel: the role of eating dinner with the family

 

Jews

N = 3251 n(%)

Arabs

N = 1675 n(%)

chi-square,

p value

Sociodemographic characteristics:

 Sex

  

32.15,p < 0.001

  Females

1594(49.03)

964(57.55)

 

  Males

1657(50.97)

711(42.45)

 

 Age (years)

  

2.24, p = 0.13

  11–14

1596(49.09)

860(51.34)

 

  15+

1655(50.91)

815(48.66)

 

 BMI category

  

21.10,p < 0.001

  Underweight

67(2.38)

28(1.78)

 

  Healthy weight

1958(69.48)

1015(64.44)

 

  Overweight

528(18.74)

323(20.51)

 

  Obese

265(9.40)

209(13.27)

 

 SES of school

  

91.11,p < 0.001

  Low

1600(49.22)

1064(63.52)

 

  High

1651(50.78)

611(36.48)

 

Disordered Eating (DE) by SCOFF [31] items:

1. Do you make yourself sick because you feel uncomfortably full?

321(10.57)

137(10.16)

0.162, p = .69

2. Do you worry you have lost control over how much you eat?

1208(37.53)

623(37.31)

0.023, p = .88

3. Have you ever lost more than 3 kg in weight over a three-month period?

1207(37.24)

756(45.60)

31.89,p < .001

4. Do you believe yourself to be fat when others say you are too thin?

818(25.37)

499(30.01)

11.97,p < .001

5. Would you say that food dominates your life?

942(29.07)

531(31.78)

3.84,p = .050

Likely case of DE (> two positive responses)

635(19.53)

421(25.13)

20.59,p < .001

Where did you eat dinner last night?

  

141.53,p < .001

 At home with parents/family

1988(64.03)

1019(69.23)

 

 At home alone

388(12.50)

150(10.19)

 

 At school/friend’s house/restaurant/cafeteria

531(17.10)

119(8.08)

 

 Did not eat dinner

162(5.22)

174(11.82)

 
  1. Notes
  2. Significant associations (p < 0.05) appear in bold
  3. Underweight: BMI percentile< 3%, Healthy weight: 3% ≤ BMI percentile< 85%, Overweight: 85% ≤ BMI percentile< 97%, Obese: BMI percentile≥97%
  4. SES: The school’s affiliated welfare level according to the Ministry of Education
  5. Likely case of DE is defined as a total SCOFF [31] score of more than two affirmative responses