Reprint of: Response to the Letter to the Editor: “Re: Ruth E. Brown, Arya M. Sharma, Chris I. Ardern, Pedi Mirdamadi, Paul Mirdamadi and Jennifer L. Kuk, ‘Secular differences in the association between caloric intake, macronutrient intake, and physical activity with obesity’ [Obes. Res. Clin. Pract. (2015)]”

We thank Mr. Hawkins for highlighting that education and ethnicity play important roles in obesity. In our manuscript by Brown et al. [1], we adjusted for education and ethnicity, and thus can say that someone of the same education level and ethnicity in 1971 will likely have a higher BMI than someone in 2008 who consumes a similar caloric intake and has a similar exercise frequency. However, it is unclear whether education and ethnicity alter...