London Metropolitan University - Fat is a class issue

Research shows that children of lower-income families are nearly twice as likely to be overweight as those from higher-income homes. The London Metropolitan University study compares the weight, height and body composition of 2,298 children aged 5-14 at schools in and around the capital. Body-fat levels were recorded instead of relying on the body-mass index (BMI), a ratio of weight and height. David McCarthy, reader at the Institute for Health Research and Policy at London Met, said: "While BMI is useful for some population studies, we found it dramatically underestimated the prevalence of weight problems in the two groups of children."