161. Rizkallah,N., Marshall,T., Kritz-Silverstein,D . Parity and risk factors for coronary heart disease in Palestinian women in two refugee camps in the West Bank: a population based cross-sectional survey.2010.

 Evidence from the USA and Europe suggests that women who have given birth many times have a 50–80% increased risk of developing coronary heart disease. The mechanisms underlying this association are unclear, but plausible biological pathways exist. Previous studies of the association between parity and coronary heart disease have been restricted by inclusion of few women who had given birth more than six times. Methods researchers undertook a population-based cross-sectional survey of women in the Amaari and Kalandia refugee camps in the occupied Palestinian territory. they selected a random sample of 515 of all 587 women living in the two camps who were aged 40–65 years at the time of the study (March to May, 2001). Findings Mean parity of the 500 women that were assessed was 7·3 , (69%) women were obese, (84%) had central obesity, (52%) had abdominal obesity , Frequency of diabetes was 22%, and of hypertension was 43%.