This paper examines the effects of family social capital, community social capital and collective efficacy on childhood overweight, employing logistic regression models. Using data from the Child Development Supplement and the 2000 U.S. Census, we find that both parent-child involvement in activities and parental enforcement of rules reduce the odds of childhood overweight, controlling for family and child characteristics. We also find that high levels of community social capital and collective efficacy reduce the odds of childhood overweight, controlling for community, family and child characteristics. These findings suggest that interventions of childhood overweight should target social processes in children’s environments.

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