National Study of Health and Growth: social and family factors and overweight in English and Scottish parents

Lower social class, several children, and overweight partner and increasing age were factors significantly associated with overweight in parents aged 20-55 years in England and Scotland. These associations were greater for women than men in both countries. These results support the contention that social circumstances contribute to overweight in adults. However, both the magnitude of the explained variation and the relative risk of each factor for overweight were low. We conclude that the selection of families for preventive health measures using the above risk factors would exclude a large proportion of the population who will become obese.