Sociodemographic, socioeconomic, biological and health-related differences across BMI groups for all three sweeps of MCS (MCS3, MCS4 and MCS5) combined
| Variables | Total N (%) | MCS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMI | p (χ2) | ||||
| Normal (or underweight) N (%) | Overweight N (%) | Obese N (%) | |||
| Total | 29 001 (100) | 22 624 (78.1) | 4801 (16.5) | 1576 (5.4) | N/A |
| Gender | |||||
| Male | 14 496 (49.9) | 11 593 (51.2) | 2163 (45.1) | 740 (47.0) | <0.0001 |
| Female | 14 505 (50.1) | 11 031 (48.8) | 2638 (54.9) | 836 (53.0) | |
| Ethnicity | |||||
| White | 25 287 (87.2) | 19 831 (87.7) | 4163 (86.7) | 1293 (82.0) | <0.0001 |
| Mixed | 727 (2.5) | 529 (2.3) | 131 (2.7) | 57 (3.6) | |
| Black African/Caribbean | 579 (2.0) | 347 (1.5) | 155 (3.2) | 77 (4.9) | |
| Asian | 2049 (7.1) | 1619 (7.2) | 300 (6.3) | 130 (8.3) | |
| Other | 369 (1.2) | 298 (1.3) | 52 (1.1) | 19 (1.2) | |
| Main respondent's highest education (MCS1) | |||||
| None | 3951 (13.6) | 2988 (13.2) | 675 (14.0) | 288 (18.3) | <0.0001 |
| GCSE/A levels | 15 777 (54.4) | 12 069 (53.4) | 2786 (58.0) | 922 (58.5) | |
| Diploma higher education | 2895 (10.0) | 2272 (10.0) | 473 (10.0) | 150 (9.5) | |
| Degree or higher | 5754 (19.8) | 4805 (21.2) | 784 (16.3) | 165 (10.4) | |
| Foreign qualification | 624 (2.2) | 490 (2.2) | 83 (1.7) | 51 (3.2) | |
| Natural mother's BMI (MCS1) | |||||
| Pregnant | 1311 (4.5) | 1038 (4.6) | 220 (4.6) | 53 (3.4) | <0.0001 |
| Underweight | 1077 (3.7) | 973 (4.3) | 89 (1.9) | 15 (0.9) | |
| Normal weight | 15 840 (54.6) | 13 283 (58.7) | 2054 (42.8) | 503 (31.9) | |
| Overweight | 7158 (24.7) | 5114 (22.6) | 1542 (32.1) | 502 (31.8) | |
| Obese | 3615 (12.5) | 2216 (9.8) | 896 (18.7) | 503 (32.0) | |
| Child currently taking at least one regular medication | |||||
| No | 25 443 (87.7) | 19 972 (88.3) | 4175 (87.0) | 1296 (82.2) | <0.0001 |
| Yes | 3558 (12.3) | 2652 (11.7) | 626 (13.0) | 280 (17.8) | |
| Number of medicines | |||||
| 0 | 25 443 (87.7) | 19 972 (88.3) | 4181 (87.0) | 1296 (82.2) | <0.0001 |
| 1 | 2178 (7.5) | 1651 (7.2) | 372 (7.7) | 155 (9.8) | |
| 2 | 918 (3.2) | 662 (2.9) | 177 (3.6) | 79 (5.0) | |
| 3 | 309 (1.0) | 233 (1.0) | 48 (1.0) | 28 (1.8) | |
| 4 | 84 (0.3) | 59 (0.3) | 15 (0.3) | 10 (0.6) | |
| 5 | 35 (0.1) | 23 (0.1) | 8 (0.2) | 4 (0.3) | |
| 6 | 24 (0.1) | 17 (0.1) | 4 (0.1) | 3 (0.2) | |
| 7 | 10 (0.1) | 7 (0.1) | 2 (0.1) | 1 (0.1) | |
| Longstanding illness | |||||
| No | 24 148 (83.3) | 18 887 (83.5) | 4033 (84.0) | 1228 (78.0) | <0.0001 |
| Yes | 4853 (16.7) | 3737 (16.5) | 768 (15.0) | 348 (22.0) | |
| Sweep | |||||
| MCS3 | 9667 (33.3) | 7718 (34.1) | 1473 (30.7) | 476 (30.2) | <0.0001 |
| MCS4 | 9667 (33.3) | 7819 (34.6) | 1337 (27,9) | 511 (32.4) | |
| MCS5 | 9667 (33.3) | 7087 (31.3) | 1991 (41.5) | 589 (37.4) | |
| Mean (SD) | Normal Mean (SD) | Overweight Mean (SD) | Obese Mean (SD) | p (F) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age at entry | 4.8 (0.4) | 4.8 (0.4) | 4.8 (0.4) | 4.8 (0.4) | 0.3 |
| OECD equivalised weekly family income (MCS3–MCS4–MCS5) | 352.5 (200.1) | 359.0 (203.8) | 337.0 (186.9) | 308.0 (174.7) | <0.0001 |
| Number of medications | 0.20 (0.62) | 0.18 (0.60) | 0.21 (0.64) | 0.31 (0.79) | <0.0001 |
BMI, body mass index; GCSE, General Certificate of Secondary Education; MCS, Millennium Cohort Study; N/A, not applicable; OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.