Previous studies of nutrition were undertaken in adolescent
schoolchildren in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, occupied
Palestinian territory; most of the children were selected from
only a few geographical areas. We assessed factors associated
with stunting (height-for-age standardised scores <2),
underweight (body-mass index [BMI] less than fifth percentile),
overweight (BMI ≥85th percentile), and obesity (BMI ≥95th
percentile) in schoolchildren and adolescents aged 6—15 years in
the north, south, and middle of the West Bank in 2009. We
surveyed a sample of 22 schools run by the UN Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and
Palestinian Government. Using UNRWA's and the government's
lists, we selected 1500 students from those attending school at
the time the study was undertaken. We selected a set number of
students per class from the first (mean age 6·71 years [SD
0·45]), sixth (11·82 years [0·57]), and ninth grades (14·83
years [0·61]), with a 1:1 ratio of boys to girls. The nu