title: Ongoing deterioration of the nutritional status of Palestinian preschool children in Gaza under the Israeli siege.
abstract: This cross-sectional, community-based, household survey was carried out in Gaza City, Palestine during the first half of 2009 to study the nutritional status of Palestinian preschool children aged 2-5 years under blockade. The response rate was 95.2% from a total sample of 770. The majority (94.4%) of households faced difficulties accessing food, the main cause was the siege and the shortage of food products; and the majority (85.5%) were food insecure households. Just over 50% of the preschoolers were anaemic, 26.8% of those who had a stool test had parasitic infections, and 15.0 were stunted. Food insecurity was the first predictor of stunting andd underweight, and malnutrition indicators indicate the worst situation in the Gaza Strip for several decades.
authors.affiliation: Planning and Policy Making Unit, Ministry of Health, Gaza, Palestine. samir_radi@hotmail.com
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Radi
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: El-Sayed
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Nofal
authors.forename: Z A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Abdeen
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000191:economics / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D000886:Anthropometry; D018912:Arabs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000191:economics / Q000208:ethnology*; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000150:complications / Q000191:economics / Q000208:ethnology*; D008877:Middle East / Q000208:ethnology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011057:Politics; D011203:Poverty / Q000208:ethnology; D019282:Wasting Syndrome / Q000191:economics / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology