NOTES
ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION
Excess body weight is a health concern affecting increasing numbers of Australians. This publication presents information about adults who were classified as being overweight or obese in the 2004-05 National Health Survey (NHS), and compares this to results from previous surveys in 1989-90, 1995 and 2001. In the NHS, overweight and obesity are defined using the Body Mass Index (BMI), which is based on height and weight information reported by survey respondents. See the Glossary for detailed information on the BMI and how it is calculated.
The NHS is designed to obtain national benchmarks on a number of health issues such as chronic disease and risk factors, and to enable changes in health to be monitored over time.
INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION
BMI information is presented in this publication for the adult population only (i.e. persons aged 18 years and over). Respondents who did not provide their height and weight are excluded from this publication.
Age standardising is a method of removing the influence of age when comparing populations. It has been applied to the proportions used when making comparisons over time, or where otherwise noted.
Estimates which have been age standardised have been explicitly identified as such. Refer to the Glossary for further information.
EFFECTS OF ROUNDING
Where estimates have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.
INQUIRIES
For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.
Quality Declaration 
Print Page
Print All