Food consumption patterns and nutrient intakes of infants and young children amidst the nutrition transition: the case of Lebanon

Jomaa, Lamis; Hwalla, Nahla; Chokor, Fatima Al Zahraa; Naja, Farah; O’Neill, Lynda; Nasreddine, Lara

doi:10.1186/s12937-022-00779-9

Table 1 Socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics of Lebanese infants and young children, by age

From: Food consumption patterns and nutrient intakes of infants and young children amidst the nutrition transition: the case of Lebanon

Age group (months)	Total		0–5.9		6–11.9		12–23.9		24–47.9		p-value*
Sociodemographic Characteristics	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Sociodemographic Characteristics	866	100	103	11.9	148	17.1	222	25.6	393	45.4
Sex
Male	440	50.8	53	51.5	65	43.9	115	51.8	207	52.7	0.326
Female	426	49.2	50	48.5	83	56.1	107	48.2	186	47.3	0.326
Governorate
Beirut	80	9.2	12	11.6	14	9.5	11	4.9	43	10.9	0.149
Mount Lebanon	264	30.5	30	29.1	41	27.7	69	31.1	124	31.5
North Lebanon	319	36.8	35	34.0	68	45.9	83	37.4	133	33.8
South and Nabatieh	136	15.6	19	18.4	18	12.2	36	16.2	63	16.0
Bekaa	67	7.8	7	6.8	7	4.7	23	10.4	30	7.6
Household monthly income (Lebanese pounds)^a
< 1,000,000	286	33.0	27	26.2	64	43.2	76	34.2	119	30.3	0.001
1,000,000-2,000,000	271	31.3	44	42.7	30	20.3	61	27.5	136	34.6
> 2,000,000	146	16.9	17	16.5	27	18.2	29	13.1	73	18.6
Do not know / Refused to answer	163	18.8	15	14.6	27	18.2	56	25.2	65	16.5
Crowding Index
< 1 persons/room	119	13.7	16	15.5	26	17.6	30	13.5	47	12.0	0.366
≥ 1 persons/room	747	86.3	87	84.5	122	82.4	192	86.5	346	88.0	0.366
Education of mother
Less than elementary^b	25	2.9	1	1.0	5	3.4	6	2.7	13	3.3	0.328
Elementary-secondary^c	653	75.4	72	69.9	107	72.3	169	76.1	305	77.6
College	188	21.7	30	29.1	36	24.3	47	21.2	75	19.1
Education of father
Less than elementary^b	33	3.9	3	2.9	7	4.8	13	5.9	10	2.6	0.532
Elementary-secondary^c	694	81.3	82	80.4	118	80.3	174	79.4	320	82.9
College	127	14.9	17	16.7	22	15.0	32	14.6	56	14.5
Mother employed
Yes	150	17.3	25	24.3	25	16.9	45	20.3	55	14.0	0.049
No	716	82.7	78	75.7	123	83.1	177	79.7	338	86.0	0.049
Father employed
Yes	822	95.7	99	96.1	145	98.0	209	94.6	369	95.4	0.440
No	37	4.3	4	3.9	3	2.0	12	5.4	18	4.6	0.440
Marital status
Married	856	98.8	103	100.0	148	100.0	221	99.6	384	97.7	0.063
Separated, divorced, or widowed	10	1.2	0	0.0	0	0.0	1	0.4	9	2.3	0.063
Anthropometric Characteristics
Height for age^d
Stunted	61	7.1	7	6.8	7	4.7	22	10.1	25	6.4	0.219
Not stunted	798	92.9	96	93.2	141	95.3	197	89.9	364	93.6	0.219
BMI Status^e
Wasted	17	2.0	4	3.9	8	5.4	4	1.8	1	0.3	< 0.001
Normal	511	59.5	69	67.0	98	66.2	106	48.4	238	61.2
At risk of overweight	223	25.9	13	12.6	33	22.3	67	30.6	110	28.3
Overweight	79	9.2	11	10.7	7	4.7	33	15.1	28	7.2
Obese	29	3.4	6	5.8	2	1.3	9	4.1	12	3.1

Abbreviations: BMI body mass index, HAZ height-for-age z-score, n sample size, US United States, WHO World Health Organization
^*Chi–square test was used for all variables in the table, except for marital status where Fisher’s exact test was used
^a1 US dollars = 1, 500 Lebanese pounds
^b Less than elementary includes being illiterate, not attending school, or being able to read and write only
^c Elementary to secondary includes primary school, intermediate school, high school, or technical diploma
^d Stunted if HAZ < -2, not stunted if HAZ ≥ -2
^e Anthropometric measurements of children were categorized based on WHO classification

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