Sociodemographic and behavioral factors related to obesity among adults in the Republic of Palau based on the WHO STEPwise approach to NCD risk factor surveillance 2011-2013: A cross-sectional study.

"Declarations AcknowledgementsWe are most grateful to the MOH of Palau, for sharing the analysis dataset. We also appreciate the WHO Regional Office of the Western Pacific for jointly conducting the STEPS with the MOH. FundingThe data analysis of this study was a part of a joint research project between Palau and Japan, funded by the Health and Labour Sciences Research Grants for Research on Global Health Issue (H24-chikyukibo-ippan-004) to A.A. from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Government of Japan. Authors’ contributionsMH performed the study design and statistical analyses, interpreted the data, and wrote the manuscript. HI concepted and supervised the study design and analysis, and led to revise the manuscript. KH, CC, TM, BW, EI, SM, HY and AA performed the data collection and supported to develop study design, and revised the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript. Availability of data and materialsRestrictions apply to the availability of the data, which was used under a contract between public sector of Palau and a Japanese research team (Osaka University and Nagoya University). Therefore, the data cannot be shared without permission by MOH of Palau. Ethics approval and consent to participateThis study protocol was approved by the Bioethics Review Committee of Nagoya University School of Medicine (approval number: 2012-0103) and the Institutional Review Board of the MOH, Palau. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to the WHO STEPS. Consent for publicationNot applicable. Competing interestsAll authors declare that they have no competing interests. Competing interests All authors declare that they have no competing interests."

"Funding The data analysis of this study was a part of a joint research project between Palau and Japan, funded by the Health and Labour Sciences Research Grants for Research on Global Health Issue (H24-chikyukibo-ippan-004) to A.A. from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Government of Japan."