Characteristics of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal participants in the 45 and Up Study by body mass index (BMI) category
| Aboriginal | Non-Aboriginal | |||||||
| Normal weight | Overweight | Obese | Total | Normal weight | Overweight | Obese | Total | |
| BMI 18.5–24.99 | BMI 25–29.99 | BMI 30–50 | BMI 18.5–24.99 | BMI 25–29.99 | BMI 30–50 | |||
| N | 355 | 552 | 582 | 1,515* | 78 698 | 84 473 | 47 565 | 213 301* |
| % of total | 23.4 | 36.4 | 38.4 | 100.0* | 36.9 | 39.6 | 22.3 | 100.0* |
| Median BMI (IQR) | 22.9 (2.7) | 27.4 (2.4) | 34.0 (5.4) | 28.3 (7.8) | 23.0 (2.5) | 27.1 (2.4) | 32.8 (4.4) | 26.3 (5.8) |
| Median age (IQR) | 54.7 (13.4) | 55.8 (11.7) | 55.3 (11.7) | 55.2 (11.9) | 60.0 (17.8) | 60.6 (15.6) | 59.2 (13.6) | 60.1 (15.9) |
| Male (%) | 41.7 | 50.7 | 42.8 | 45.5 | 38.8 | 55.9 | 45.7 | 46.9 |
| No school certificate (%)† | 26.3 | 26.3 | 29.9 | 27.6 | 9.2 | 10.6 | 14.2 | 10.9 |
| Household income <$20 000/year (%) | 38.7 | 32.4 | 41.4 | 37.9 | 22.5 | 21.5 | 26.4 | 23.1 |
| Most disadvantaged SEIFA tertile (%) | 50.7 | 45.7 | 52.9 | 49.8 | 29.6 | 32.2 | 36.4 | 32.2 |
| <7 physical activity sessions/week (%) | 32.1 | 31.0 | 39.2 | 34.1 | 24.7 | 29.2 | 38.8 | 29.7 |
| ≥5 hours screen time/day (%) | 28.8 | 38.2 | 38.7 | 36.0 | 28.1 | 32.7 | 38.8 | 32.3 |
| Current smoker (%) | 29.5 | 18.9 | 16.4 | 21.2 | 8.2 | 6.4 | 7.1 | 7.3 |
| ≥14 drinks/week (%) | 17.2 | 22.0 | 12.9 | 17.3 | 17.3 | 21.8 | 17.7 | 19.2 |
| Very high psychological distress (%) | 8.2 | 6.6 | 10.1 | 8.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 2.0 |
| Moderate/severe functional limitation (%) | 28.2 | 23.6 | 43.7 | 32.6 | 13.7 | 16.3 | 30.0 | 18.5 |
| Disability (%)‡ | 12.6 | 8.9 | 16.5 | 12.7 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 7.3 | 4.8 |
| Full-time carer (%) | 9.9 | 9.1 | 11.5 | 10.2 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 6.6 | 5.1 |
| Prior serious illness (%) | 15.5 | 22.3 | 37.8 | 26.5 | 14.7 | 19.2 | 25.8 | 19.0 |
| Poor or fair health (%) | 23.4 | 20.0 | 37.0 | 27.7 | 9.3 | 10.6 | 21.1 | 12.6 |
*Less than 2% of the cohort was underweight (n=26 Aboriginal and n=2565 non-Aboriginal participants); these data are not displayed, but they are included in the total. The sample size may not equal the total N for variables with missing data.
†Left school before completing Year 12.
‡Assistance required for daily tasks.