Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Short Communication
  • Published:

Trends in body mass index from 1948 to 1968: results from the Glasgow Alumni Cohort

International Journal of Obesity volume 27, pages 638–640 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Most published studies suggest that the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity is a recent phenomenon. We have investigated whether secular trends in body mass index (BMI) existed in the 1950s and 1960s, using data collected from young adults attending Glasgow University. Mean BMI increased from 1948 to 1968 in men, and decreased slightly in women. The proportion of men who were overweight increased, whereas that of women changed little. These data must be interpreted in light of the fact that the study participants were relatively affluent, and not representative of the whole population in terms of socioeconomic position in childhood. The increases of BMI in men evident from 1948 to 1968 suggest that recent changes in exercise and dietary patterns do not fully explain changes in body weight over time.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Charlton J, Murphy M . The health of adult Britain 1841–1994. The Stationery Office: London, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Floud R . Height, weight and body mass of the British population since 1820. National Bureau of Economic Research. 1998; http://papers.nber.org/papers/h0108.pdf.

  3. Harland R . Sociological, anatomical and physiological changes in first-year students entering Queen's University, Belfast, over thirty years, 1948–77. Ulster Med J 1980; 49: 37–47.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. McCarron P, Okasha M, McEwen J, Davey Smith G . Changes in blood pressure among students attending Glasgow University between 1948 and 1968: analyses of cross sectional surveys. BMJ 2001; 322: 885–889.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kuczmarski RJ, Flegal KM, Campbell SM, Johnson CL . Increasing prevalence of overweight among US adults. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1960 to 1991. JAMA 1994; 272: 205–211.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Stroke Association, Chest Heart and Stroke, Scotland and NHS R&D CVD Programme who assisted with the establishment of the cohort, and World Cancer Research Fund and Breast Cancer Campaign who paid the salary of one of the authors (MO).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Medicine, Canynge Hall, Bristol, UK

    M Okasha, G Davey Smith & D Gunnell

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, UK

    P McCarron

Authors
  1. M Okasha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P McCarron
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G Davey Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D Gunnell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Okasha.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Okasha, M., McCarron, P., Davey Smith, G. et al. Trends in body mass index from 1948 to 1968: results from the Glasgow Alumni Cohort. Int J Obes 27, 638–640 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802279

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802279

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links