4842.0.55.001 - Overweight and Obesity in Adults in Australia: A Snapshot, 2007–08  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/05/2011  First Issue
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Contents >> Health status >> Self-assessed health

Self-assessed health

A person's perception of their own health is a useful measure of their current health status. In the 2007-08 NHS, people were asked to provide a general assessment of their own health selecting from a five-point scale (excellent, very good, good, fair and poor).

After adjusting for age, obese people were less likely to perceive their health as excellent, very good or good (78%) compared with normal weight and overweight people (90% and 87% respectively). Consequently, more obese people rated their health as fair or poor than people in these other weight ranges (Graph 6.1).

6.1 Measured Body Mass Index(a)(b), by Self-assessed health








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