The Intergenerational Transfer of Eating Habits, Physical Activity Behaviour, and Body Composition: Evidence from the UK

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Rising rates of overweight and obesity of both children and adults in the UK is of major concern. Current government policy has primarily focused on reducing childhood rates of overweight and obesity by ensuring healthy school meals and building physical activity into daily life. However, parent‘s eating habits, physical activity patterns, and body composition will influence their children‘s behaviour. Determining the role that parent‘s plays in impacting their children‘s behaviour will be important to create effective policy to promote the health of current and future generations. This research uses economic techniques to establish the relationship between parents and children‘s behaviour concerning the areas of eating habits, physical activity, and body composition. Differences by parental gender and the affect of single parent households will be examined. The availability of supermarkets and fast food chains on eating behaviour and weight of family members will also be addressed. Finally, the effectiveness of current government policy will be analysed. Results will increase the understanding of family interactions and behaviour regarding eating habits, physical activity, and body composition as well as determining the effectiveness of current policy to reduce childhood obesity.