http://blogs.najah.edu/author/halemeh An-Najah Blogs :: Haleama Al Sabbah en-us Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:15:29 IDT Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:15:29 IDT [email protected] [email protected] http://blogs.najah.edu/staff/halemeh/article/Pharmacy-practice-in-occupied-Palestinian-territory-reality-and-difficultiesPublished Articles Background The pharmacist is an essential part of the health-care system in the occupied Palestinian territory oPt providing advice and guidance to patients The reality and difficulties of pharmacy practice in the oPt are not supported by any data The aim in this study was to draw attention to the reality and describe the pharmacy profession in the area Methods Reports at the central office of the Pharmaceutical Association Jerusalem West Bank which describes the pharmacy workforce in the oPt and the Nablus office largest branch office were reviewed Key individualssecretary of the Pharmaceutical Association head of pharmaceutical policy and pricing department at the Ministry of Health and an assistant professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy at An-Najah National University West Bankwere interviewed The main questions were what are the main problems in the pharmacy practice; who is responsible for the problem; what are you doing to resolve the problem; and what are your recommendations to improve pharmacy practice Findings The oPt has 4745 pharmacists with a density of 124 per 10 000 population compared with WHOs target of five pharmacists per 10 000 population One community pharmacy serves 3100 people compared with WHOs target of 5000 About 82 11 of 723 pharmacists in Nablus are unemployed and 245 34 of 723 work in community pharmacies Women make up most of the pharmacy workforce in Nablus The key individuals stated that the numbers of pharmacists and pharmacies are higher than the needs of the pharmacy practice in the oPt there is a lack of employment opportunities for the pharmacists and pharmacists should comply with laws and regulations eg owner of a pharmacy must be a pharmacist individual dispensing the drugs should be a pharmacist or a pharmacist assistant and pharmacists have to adhere to the drug pricing set by the Ministry of Health and pharmaceutical association Interpretation The increase in the number of pharmacists in the oPt needs to be matched by the number of employment opportunities for them in addition to the creation of continuous learning programmes http://blogs.najah.edu/staff/halemeh/article/Socioeconomic-position-macroeconomic-environment-and-overweight-among-adolescents-in-35-countriesPublished ArticlesOBJECTIVE: It is important to understand levels and social inequalities in childhood overweight within and between countries This study examined prevalence and social inequality in adolescent overweight in 35 countries and associations with macroeconomic factors DESIGN: International cross-sectional survey in national samples of schools SUBJECTS: A total of 11- 13- and 15-year-olds from 35 countries in Europe and North America in 2001-2002 N=162 305 MEASUREMENTS: The main outcome measure was overweight based on self-reported height and weight body mass index cut-points corresponding to body mass index of 25 kgm2 at the age of 18 years Measures included family and school affluence within countries and average country income and economic inequality between countries RESULTS: There were large variations in adolescent overweight from 35 in Lithuanian girls to 317 in boys from Malta Prevalence of overweight was higher among children from less affluent families in 21 of 24 Western and 5 of 10 Central European countries However children from more affluent families were at higher risk of overweight in Croatia Estonia and Latvia In Poland Lithuania Macedonia and Finland girls from less affluent families were more overweight whereas the opposite was found for boys Average country income was associated with prevalence and inequality in overweight when considering all countries together However economic inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient was differentially associated with prevalence and socioeconomic inequality in overweight among the 23-high income and 10-middle income countries with a positive relationship among the high income countries and a negative association among the middle income countries CONCLUSION: The direction and magnitude of social inequality in adolescent overweight shows large international variation with negative social gradients in most countries but positive social gradients especially for boys in some Central European countries Macroeconomic factors are associated with the heterogeneity in prevalence and social inequality of adolescent overweight http:wwwncbinlmnihgovpubmed19621018http://blogs.najah.edu/staff/halemeh/article/Nutrition-Related-Behaviors-Among-Palestinian-Adolescents-Findings-from-the-National-Study-of-Palestinian-Schoolchildren-HBSC-WBG2004-1Published ArticlesNutrition is a fundamental pillar of human life health and development across one?s entire span of life Because adolescents are the future generation their nutritional needs are critical for the well being of society Adolescence is an important period for acquiring and strengthening healthy eating and lifestyle behaviours A healthy diet together with physical activity can prevent or postpone the onset of nutrition-related chronic diseases in adulthood This first study on Nutrition-related behaviours of Palestinian adolescents reveals several nutrition-related problems including high prevalence rates of overweight weight dissatisfaction unhealthy weight control behaviours extreme weight-control behaviours negative body image or perception of body weight problems with eating habits and lack of physical activity Priority areas for interventions were identified our understanding of potential causes of body weight dissatisfaction was increased and areas for further research were identified Paperback: 208 pages Publisher: VDM Verlag Language: English ISBN-10: 3639152794 ISBN-13: 978-3639152791 http:wwwamazoncomNutrition-Related-Behaviors-Among-Palestinian-Adolescentsdp3639152794http://blogs.najah.edu/staff/halemeh/article/Breakfast-consumption-and-its-socio-demographic-and-lifestyle-correlates-in-schoolchildren-in-41-countries-participating-in-the-HBSC-studyPublished ArticlesOBJECTIVE: To investigate associations of daily breakfast consumption DBC with demographic and lifestyle factors in 41 countries METHODS: Design: Survey including nationally representative samples of 11-15 year olds n = 204534 HBSC 2005-2006 Statistics: Multilevel logistic regression analyses RESULTS: DBC varied from 33 Greek girls to 75 Portuguese boysIn most countries lower DBC was noticed in girls older adolescents those with lower family affluence and those living in single-parent families DBC was positively associated with healthy lifestyle behaviours and negatively with unhealthy lifestyle behaviours CONCLUSION: Breakfast skipping deserves attention in preventive programs It is common among adolescents especially girls older adolescents and those from disadvantaged familiesThe results indicate that DBC can serve as an indicator to identify children at risk for unhealthy lifestyle behaviours http:wwwncbinlmnihgovpubmed19639257http://blogs.najah.edu/staff/halemeh/article/Weight-control-behaviors-among-Overweight-Normal-weight-and-Underweight-adolescents-in-Palestine-Findings-from-the-National-Study-of-Palestinian-Schoolchildren-HBSC-WBG2004Published Articles Abstract Objective: To examine the relationship between weight control behaviors and self-reported sociodemographic characteristics weight status and perception of body weight in a large representative sample of adolescents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip territories of Palestine Method: Self-report measures of sociodemographic characteristics body weight perception height and weight and weight-control behaviors were completed by 8885 male and female students aged 12 to 18 years from 405 randomly selected schools as part of the 200304 Palestinian Health Behavior in School-aged Children Study HBSC Results: In both genders dieting to lose weight was common among adolescents and significantly higher among overweight than among underweight or normal weight adolescents Extreme weight-control behaviors vomiting diet pills or laxatives and smoking were more common among boys than girls and extreme weight-control behaviors were particularly common among underweight boys Older adolescents were less likely than younger adolescents to engage in weight-control behaviors Perception of body weight as too fat was an influential factor in following an unhealthy diet to lose weight Conclusion: Practices to control weight particularly extreme and unhealthy weight-control behaviors are common among adolescents in the Palestinian territories These findings suggest the need to design appropriate prevention and early intervention programs for adolescents in Palestine http://blogs.najah.edu/staff/halemeh/article/Body-weight-dissatisfaction-and-communication-with-parentsPublished ArticlesAbstract Background Parents have significant influence on behaviors and perceptions surrounding eating body image and weight in adolescents The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of body weight dissatisfaction difficulty in communication with the parents and the relationship between communication with parents and adolescents dissatisfaction with their body weight dieting or perceived need to diet Methods Survey data were collected from adolescents in 24 countries and regions in Europe Canada and the USA who participated in the cross-sectional 20012002 Health Behaviour of School-Aged Children HBSC study The association between communication with parents and body weight dissatisfaction was examined using binary logistic regression analysis Results Body weight dissatisfaction was highly prevalent and more common among girls than boys among overweight than non-overweight and among older adolescents than younger adolescents Difficulty in talking to father was more common than difficulty in talking to mother in all countries and it was greater among girls than among boys and increased with age Difficulties in talking to father was associated with weight dissatisfaction among both boys and girls in most countries Difficulties in talking to mother was rarely associated with body weight dissatisfaction among boys while among girls this association was found in most countries Conclusions The findings suggest that enhanced parent communication might contribute in most countries to less body dissatisfaction in girls and better communication with the father can help avoiding body weight dissatisfaction in boys Professionals working with adolescents and their families should help adolescents to have a healthy weight and positive body image and promote effective parentadolescent communication http://blogs.najah.edu/staff/halemeh/article/Associations-of-overweight-and-of-weight-dissatisfaction-among-Palestinian-adolescents-findings-from-the-national-study-of-Palestinian-schoolchildren-HBSC-WBG2004Published Articles Abstract Background Overweight and obesity as well as weight dissatisfaction have been increasing in prevalence worldwide Body weight dissatisfaction and fear of fatness are potential contributors to disordered eating The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of self-reported overweight and weight dissatisfaction along with associations with socio-demographic characteristics body image health complaints risk behaviours physical activity and television viewing in adolescents in Palestine Methods The 200304 Palestinian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children HBSC is a cross-sectional survey of 17 817 adolescents from 405 randomly selected schools Students from a representative sample of grades 6 8 10 and 12 aged 1218 years self-completed a modified version of the international World Health Organization collaborative Health Behaviour in School-aged Children HBSC-2002 questionnaire Results Although 165 of the adolescents were overweight almost twice that number 321 were dissatisfied with their weight ie dieting or perceiving a need to diet Of those adolescents two-thirds were not actually overweight 564 boys; 735 girls One-fifth of the total number of adolescents 160 boys; 240 girls were not overweight but were dissatisfied with their weight Boys reporting overweight or weight dissatisfaction were more likely to have mothers with higher education or to be from more affluent families Among both genders but especially among girls weight dissatisfaction was positively associated with most of the outcome variables body image health complaints risk behaviours and television viewing regardless of weight status whereas weight status was associated with only a few of the outcome variables Conclusions Weight dissatisfaction independent of weight status is associated with body image health complaints risk behaviours and television viewing and represents a potential health risk factor for adolescents Preventive interventions should focus not only on weight status but also on body weight dissatisfaction http://blogs.najah.edu/staff/halemeh/article/Food-habits-and-physical-activity-patterns-among-Palestinian-adolescents-findings-from-the-national-study-of-Palestinian-schoolchildren-HBSC-WBG2004Published Articles Abstract Objective: To describe the food habits and physical inactivity patterns and to Design and subjects: The Palestinian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Results: Adolescents in the West Bank consume more fruit meat chicken sweets and soft drinks but less vegetables than adolescents in Gaza P 001 Girls reported more daily consumption of fruit vegetables and sweets than boys P 0001 and less consumption of soft drinks milk meat and chicken P 001 Boys were physically more active than girls P 001 whereas girls reported doing more homework P 0001 Both boys and girls reported less physical activity with increasing age P 0001 Consumption of fruit and milk was positively associated with both parents education while consumption of meat chicken and soft drinks was positively associated with mothers education only Having breakfast on schooldays was positively associated with the fathers education Physical activity and television viewing were associated with the mothers education P 001 The parents level of education had no effect on vegetable consumption and dieting status Conclusion: This study indicated that there are problems with Palestinian adolescents eating dieting and physical activity Regional gender and parental socio-economic status differences should be taken into account in developing interventions More detailed studies are needed with more elaborate instruments about food habits and physical activity of adolescents investigate the relationship with sociodemographic factors among Palestinian adolescents