Hala Ghattas

Biographic Data

ID1731656
NAMEHala Ghattas
GIVEN NAMESHala
FAMILY NAMEGhattas
SIGNATUREGHATTAS H
AFFILIATIONSAmerican University of Beirut
ORCID0000-0001-8864-3374
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS24
TOTAL CITATIONS11
WORKS AS AUTHOR24
WORKS AS EDITOR0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2017
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX2

  • Inequities in contraceptive use among adults in Lebanon

    Open AccessRindala Fayyad, Sasha Fahme et al.ARTICLEJournal of Global Health2026

    Background: The use of contraception is a key component of sexual and reproductive health, yet Lebanon still faces barriers that hinder the effective and equitable use of contraceptives and related reproductive health services. We aimed to determine the prevalence of contraceptive use, unmet need for family planning, demand for family planning satisfied with modern methods, and determinants of contraceptive use and modern contraceptive use among …

  • Legal residency status and its relationship with health indicators among Syrian refugees in Lebanon

    Open AccessMarie-Elizabeth Ragi, Hala Ghattas et al.ARTICLEBMJ Global Health2025

    BACKGROUND: Failure to possess or renew legal residency permits increases the burden on a vulnerable refugee population. It risks detention or deportation, and hinders access to basic services including healthcare. This study aimed to examine the association between legal residency status and health of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon. METHODS: Data were from two independent nested cross-sectional studies collected in 2022 through telephone surv…

  • Cohort profile

    Open AccessCarlos F Mendes De Leon, Martine Elbejjani et al.ARTICLEBMC Public Health2025

    We successfully launched a new cohort study of older adults in Lebanon to investigate ADRD and its risk factors. Data from this study will inform clinical care and policy goals in Lebanon and other settings that face a rapidly growing number of older adults with ADRD

  • The association of individual food security status with women's political participation, labor-force participation, and reproductive health

    Open AccessWesley R Dean, Olfat Sheikomar et al.ARTICLESocial Science & Medicine2025References: 62

    This article applies a conceptual framework based on multilevel theories of gender inequality to examine individual-level food insecurity (FI) outcomes in the League of Arab States (LAS). We conceptualize FI as an embodied waypoint on a discriminatory cycle incorporating material and cultural practices that function at macro-, situational-, and individual-levels. Using data drawn from the Gallup World Poll representing a sample of non-institution…

  • Predicting poor mental health among older Syrian refugees in Lebanon during the Covid-19 pandemic

    Open AccessBerthe Abi Zeid, Leen Farouki et al.ARTICLEBMJ Global Health2024

    INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened pre-existing vulnerabilities among older Syrian refugees in Lebanon, potentially impacting their mental health. The study aims to describe the evolution of poor mental health over time and to develop and internally validate a prediction model for poor mental health among older Syrian refugees in Lebanon. METHODS: This prognostic study used cross-sectional data from a multiwave telephone survey in L…

  • Reducing non-communicable diseases among Palestinian populations in Gaza

    Open AccessSanjay Basu, JOHN YUDKIN et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2024

    We sought to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of potential new public health and healthcare NCD risk reduction efforts among Palestinians in Gaza. We created a microsimulation model using: (i) a cross-sectional household survey of NCD risk factors among 4,576 Palestinian adults aged ≥40 years old in Gaza; (ii) a modified Delphi process among local public health experts to identify potentially feasible new interventions; and (iii) r…

  • Urban school neighbourhoods dominated by unhealthy food retailers and advertisements in Greater Tunis

    Open AccessChristelle Akl, Nehmat El-Helou et al.ARTICLEPublic Health Nutrition2024

    Objective: Food environments are a major determinant of children’s nutritional status. Scarce evidence on food environments exists in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This study aims to fill this gap by documenting the obesogenicity of food environments around schools in Greater Tunis, Tunisia – an LMIC of the Middle East and North Africa region with an ongoing nutrition transition and increasing rates of childhood obesity. Design: In thi…

  • Inequalities in Wellbeing in Lebanese Children and Different Refugee Subpopulations

    Open AccessZeina Jamaluddine, Gloria Safadi et al.ARTICLEChild Indicators Research2023Cited by: 1References: 5

    The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12187-023-10040-2

  • Paving the way to understanding female-headed households

    Open AccessGhada E Saad, Hala Ghattas et al.ARTICLEJournal of Global Health2022

    Background: Female-headed households (FHHs) are regarded as disadvantaged. There are multiple social trajectories that can lead to women heading households. It is important to distinguish between these trajectories, as well as societal norms and contextual factors, to understand how and when are FHHs represented as a dimension of gender inequity. Our analysis defines and describes a typology of 16 FHH types (FHH16) based on demographic characteri…

  • Pathways to food insecurity in the context of conflict

    Open AccessTracy Kuo Lin, Rawan Kafri et al.ARTICLEConflict and Health2022

    The results suggest that broader socio-political conditions in the oPt impact different aspects of food security through augmenting the economic and agricultural hardships that are experienced by the residents. As such, it is important to address these broader political and economic structures in order to have more sustainable interventions in reducing food insecurity

  • Prioritising women’s and girls’ health in disaster settings

    Open AccessKerrie Stevenson, Olivia Holtermann-Entwistle et al.ARTICLEGlobal Public Health2022

    The COVID-19 pandemic has placed strain on healthcare systems across the world; however, countries experiencing overlapping crises such as economic or political unrest face immense pressure in ensuring routine healthcare services can continue to operate. Despite being less likely suffer severe disease or die from COVID-19, data suggest women have experienced poorer mental health, higher rates of unemployment, and more social isolation during the …

  • Does a school snack make a difference? An evaluation of the World Food Programme emergency school feeding programme in Lebanon among Lebanese and Syrian refugee children

    Open AccessZeina Jamaluddine, Chaza Akik et al.ARTICLEPublic Health Nutrition2022

    Objective: To investigate the effects of providing a daily healthy school snack on children’s nutritional, social and educational outcomes and explore stakeholders’ perceptions of an emergency school feeding programme (SFP). Design: Convergence triangulation mixed-methods study design. Associations were examined between receiving the school feeding intervention and children’s outcomes using multivariable regression models. Quantitative data were …

  • Refugee Food Insecurity & Technology

    Open AccessReem Talhouk, Kyle Montague et al.ARTICLEComputer Supported Cooperative…2022

    With the Syrian crisis still ongoing, 91% of Syrian refugee families in Lebanon do not have adequate access to safe and sufficient food. There has been a drive for technological innovation in humanitarian food assistance. To further inform such innovation, we used an Experience-Centred Design approach to gain a holistic understanding of the experiences of refugee food insecurity and how refugees envision technologies can support them. Design enga…

  • Healthcare system responses to non-communicable diseases’ needs of Syrian refugees

    Open AccessChaza Akik, Farah Asfahani et al.ARTICLEJournal of Migration and Health2022

    Despite the extraordinary efforts made by host countries, provision and continuity of high quality NCD services at scale remains a tremendous challenge given ongoing funding shortfalls and lack of prioritization of NCD care for refugees. The development of innovative, effective and sustainable solutions is necessary to counter the threat of NCDs

  • Does Income Class Affect Life Satisfaction? New Evidence from Cross-Country Microdata

    Open AccessJuliette Haddad, Jad Chaaban et al.ARTICLESocial Sciences2022Cited by: 2References: 55

    This paper analyzes the impact of income class on subjective wellbeing. Using rich data from the Gallup World Poll, we investigate whether belonging to locally (both country- and time-specific) defined income classes influences individuals' life satisfaction. We rely on a latent class analysis estimation method, using individual income proxied by household income divided by household size, as an observable characteristic to hypothesize the income…

  • Predictors of complementary feeding practices among children aged 6–23 months in five countries in the Middle East and North Africa region

    Open AccessLinda Shaker‐Berbari, Vilma Tyler et al.ARTICLEMaternal and Child Nutrition2021

    Ensuring diets of children aged 6-23 months meet recommended guidance is crucial for growth and development and for the prevention of malnutrition including stunting, wasting and micronutrient deficiencies. Despite some improvement, indicators related to undernutrition and overnutrition fall short of global targets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region that consist of low- and middle-income countries witnessing political and social ch…

  • The impact of cash transfers on Syrian refugee children in Lebanon

    Open AccessWael Moussa, Nisreen Salti et al.ARTICLEWorld Development2021Cited by: 2References: 1

  • The impact of cash transfers on Syrian refugees in Lebanon

    Open AccessNisreen Salti, Jad Chaaban et al.ARTICLEJournal of Development Economics2021Cited by: 6References: 2

  • Responding to health needs of women, children and adolescents within Syria during conflict

    Open AccessChaza Akik, Aline Semaan et al.ARTICLEConflict and Health2020

    The case of Syria provides a unique perspective on creative ways of managing the humanitarian response and delivering RMNCAH&N interventions, mainly in the multi-hub structure and use of remote management, despite encountered challenges. The scarcity of RMNCAH&N data is a tremendous challenge for both researchers and implementing agencies, as it limits accountability and monitoring, thus hindering the evaluation of delivered interventions

  • Linking women-led community kitchens to school food programmes

    Open AccessHala Ghattas, Jowel Choufani et al.ARTICLEPublic Health Nutrition2020

    Objective: Decades of marginalization have led Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon to experience multigenerational poverty and food insecurity. The Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Children programme implemented and examined the impact of a two-pronged intervention that employed women through community kitchens to deliver a subsidized healthy daily school snack to elementary-school children in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. We describe the rat…

  • Child‐level double burden of malnutrition in the Mena and LAC regions

    Open AccessHala Ghattas, Yubraj Acharya et al.ARTICLEMaternal and Child Nutrition2019

    Although the prevalence of obesity has rapidly increased in the low- and middle-income countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) regions, child undernutrition remains a public-health challenge. We examined region-specific sociodemographic determinants of this double burden of malnutrition, specifically, the co-occurrence of child stunting and overweight, using Demographic and Health Survey and …

  • A mixed-methods evaluation of community-based healthy kitchens as social enterprises for refugee women

    Open AccessNadine R Sahyoun, Zeina Jamaluddine et al.ARTICLEBMC Public Health2019

    This model created a social enterprise using the concept of community kitchens linked to schools and allowed women to significantly contribute to household expenditure and improve their food security

  • Infant and young child feeding in emergencies

    Open AccessLinda Shaker‐Berbari, Hala Ghattas et al.ARTICLEMaternal and Child Nutrition2018

    Appropriate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) is key to reducing mortality amongst children aged under 2. Facilitating adherence to recommended IYCF practices during emergencies includes having relevant policies to support breastfeeding and complementary feeding as well as regulating the distribution of breast milk substitutes. In the current crisis, more than 1.2 million Syrian refugees are in Lebanon and it is timely to examine organisation…

  • Examining the need & potential for biomedical engineering to strengthen health care delivery for displaced populations & victims of conflict

    Open AccessDevika Nadkarni, Imad H Elhajj et al.ARTICLEConflict and Health2017

    Conflict and the subsequent displacement of populations creates unique challenges in the delivery of quality health care to the affected population. Equitable access to quality care demands a multi-pronged strategy with a growing need, and role, for technological innovation to address these challenges. While there have been significant contributions towards alleviating the burden of conflict via data informatics and analytics, communication techn…