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BackgroundChildhood overweight/obesity has been associated with environmental context, such as green space, gardens, crime and deprivation. This paper assesses the longitudinal association between environment and body mass index (BMI) for children across the ages of 3–11 years. It also investigates the relationship between environment and child overweight/obesityMethods6001 children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study living in England were analysed. We estimated fixed effects linear and logistic regression models of the association between environment (levels of green space, gardens, crime and deprivation) and BMI/overweight of children at four time points between the ages of 3 and 11. Models were adjusted for age-related changes in weight, child sex and education level of the main carer.ResultsStatistically significant associations were found between environmental measures of both more gardens and lower levels of crime and lower BMI (effect size (95% CI) respectively: −0.02 (−0.04 to 0.00), −0.04 (−0.07 to −0.02)). Areas with less crime were associated with a slightly lower odds of overweight among children with a higher educated parent (OR 0.93 (0.87–0.99))ConclusionsBy exploiting longitudinal measures of environment and BMI this study is able to establish a more causal association between environment and BMI. Environments with more gardens and lower crime tend to result in slightly lower BMI. However, the effect sizes are small and non-significant odds of changing weight status do not support environmental factors as a key determinant of cohort changes in childhood overweight/obesity.

Research on multiple health behaviours is increasing but little is known about parental behaviours and how they covary. Our study investigates cigarette smoking, alcohol intake, fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption and physical activity among mothers and co-resident partners in England. Using the UK Household Longitudinal Study, we examined (i) clustering of health behaviours using observed-expected ratios and latent class analysis (ii) socio-demographic correlates of the derived latent classes and (iii) intra-couple concordance of individual health behaviours and their latent classes. We identified five latent classes for mothers and partners: Never smoked drinkers (28% of mothers; 29% of partners), Abstainers (25%; 17%), Drinkers and ex-smokers (19%; 26%), Unhealthy low frequency drinkers (18%; 16%) and Unhealthiest behaviour group (11%; 12%). These had distinctive social profiles. Never smoked drinkers were more likely than those in other groups to be white and socially advantaged: married, older, and with higher educational qualifications and incomes. Abstainers were non-smokers who never or occasionally drank, and were disproportionately drawn from ethnic minority groups and middle/lower income families. Drinkers and ex-smokers were the most physically active group and were more likely to be socially advantaged. Unhealthy low frequency drinkers were more likely to be disadvantaged and have a limiting long-standing illness. The Unhealthiest behaviour group had the highest proportion of smokers, heavy smokers and binge drinkers and the lowest F&V intake and physical activity levels. They were largely white and socially disadvantaged: younger, non-married and with lower educational levels. Mothers and their partners typically shared the same risk behaviours, and 44 per cent of partners and mothers belonged to the same latent class. Our findings point to the potential for a broadening of research and policy perspectives, from separate behaviours to combinations of behaviours, and from individuals to the domestic units and communities of which they are part.

UK guidelines for youth recommend daily physical activity and five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. This study examined the prevalence and clustering of meeting recommendations among 10- to 15-year old. Data for 3,914 youth, from the first wave of Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study, were analysed. Clustering was assessed using the observed/expected ratio method. A minority of youth met both recommendations, and these behaviours were clustered. The odds of meeting both recommendations were lower for older youth and for Pakistani and Bangladeshi youth; boys in lower income households were less likely to meet both recommendations. Most youth met neither recommendation and the behaviours clustered with variations by ethnicity and socioeconomic conditions.

Over the last few decades, there has been an increase in the proportion of children growing up in workless households, that is households in which no adult member is in paid work. This proportion has stabilised, and has declined slightly in recent years. Worklessness among households with children is viewed as a cause for concern for two reasons: firstly, because children in workless households are much more likely to be growing up in poverty; secondly, because of concern that worklessness in families with children may be subject to intergenerational transmission. We know surprisingly little about children's experience of household worklessness over time, particularly over their childhood as a whole, even though worklessness is heavily implicated in higher poverty risks. Children from most minority ethnic groups are at substantially higher risk of household worklessness than those from the majority. For some ethnic groups, children's rates of living in a workless household are associated with high rates of lone parenthood. For others it is worklessness in couple parent families that predominates. This article uses the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Longitudinal Study to explore differences in risks of worklessness over time, among ethnic groups within a single cohort of children who are observed at two time points, 10 years apart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Longitudinal Study (LS) is an exceptional resource for exploring dynamic processes in individuals' lives for a representative sample of the population of England and Wales and across a thirty year period, including how those processes vary by ethnic group. However, analyses tend to assume a certain stability in the meaning of the ethnic group being studied: the insights into ethnic group differentiation are premised on the fact that the group has the same meaning over time. Here we show how the LS allows us to challenge such notions of group stability. This has practical implications for the ways we measure and conceive of Britain's minority ethnic groups. We illustrate this point with two examples: one exploring the change in ethnic group identification by the same individuals between 1991 and 2001, and the second exploring how loss to follow up is differentially experienced according to ethnic group.(n1) We provide some suggestions on the implications of this ethnic group instability for other research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers from the University of Warwick and the London School of Economics set out to discover how academic and social influences contribute to the educational outcomes and choices of young people with disabilities. The researchers analysed data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, a study that followed approximately 16,000 adolescents from 658 secondary schools aged 13 to 20.

The article offers information on the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) in Great Britain. The study will be the biggest survey of its kind in the world and aims to enable an understanding of the British population over time. The survey is based at the University of Essex and is lead by a team of researchers from the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) in Essex, England. In addition to the study's broad coverage, one area that is a core aspect of this study is ethnicity.