OBJECTIVE:To assess the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and childhood obesity, and which factor in particular stands out in relation to obesity. METHODS: When 2020 children attended their obligatory health exam prior to school entry in the City of Aachen, Germany, 1979 parents (97.9%) filled out a questionnaire on their child's weight development and on indicators of their family's SES in a cross-sectional survey. In addition, standardized measures of weight and height were taken. More detailed information on several different SES variables, such as parental education, occupation, income, family constellation, single parenthood, and the location and size of the family residence was obtained by personal interviews in a subsample of all native German speaking children with a BMIZ85th percentile, defined as cases (n ¼ 146), and with a BMI between the 40th and 60th percentile, defined as controls (n ¼ 221). RESULTS: The indicators of parental education were most strongly associated with children's obesity. There was a strong doseresponse relationship between a composed index of social class and obesity. Children of the lowest social status had a more than three-fold risk to be obese than children of the highest social status in the screening population (OR: 3.29, CI: 1.92-5.63). CONCLUSIONS: The findings established a strong relationship between parental years of education and childhood obesity. Prevention and treatment programs should endeavor to better target undereducated parents and their young children at high risk.

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In concurrence with studies on adulthood, binge eating is linked to obesity already in early childhood. Children of mothers with eating disorders and children of mothers with a non-German native language are at increased risk of developing eating disorders themselves. Future studies should focus on obesity and eating disorders in early childhood; prevention programs should seek to target young children at risk as early as possible.

SUMMARYBackground: Moderate alcohol consumption has been suggested to facilitate elimination of Helicobacter pylori infection. Aim: To investigate the relationship between alcohol consumption and infection with H. pylori, with particular consideration of the role of age, different alcoholic beverages and specific drinking habits. Methods: These issues were addressed in the German National Health Survey, conducted in a representative population sample between October 1997 and March 1999. Overall, 6545 subjects provided data on frequency and average amount of different alcoholic beverages consumed. H. pylori infection status was measured by serum immunoglobulin G antibodies.

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