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Article History

Received: 31 May 2018

Accepted: 26 June 2019

First Online: 8 July 2019

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: Ethical approval details for each year of the survey used are listed below:2015: West London Research Ethics Committee (reference number 14/LO/0862).2014: Oxford A Research Ethics Committee (reference no. 12/SC/0317).2013: Oxford A Research Ethics Committee (reference number 12/SC/0317).2012: Oxford A Research Ethics Committee (reference number 10/H0604/56).2011: Oxford A Research Ethics Committee (reference number 10/H0604/56).All participants consented to take part in Health Survey for England. Verbal consent was obtained for interviews and self-completion booklets (through which data for this study were collected) and the following measurements: height, weight, waist, hip, and blood pressure. Verbal consent was deemed sufficient for these aspects of the survey and responding to questions was considered to be consent. Participants were able to choose not to respond to specific questions or measurements. The use of verbal consent was approved by the Research Ethics Committee for each year of data collection. Written consent was obtained for blood samples, sending results to the GP and data linkage to Hospital Episode Statistics and the central register for mortality and cancer. Full details of the consent process are described elsewhere [CitationRef removed]. No further ethical approval was required for this study.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.