Table 2.

Distribution (%) of observations by body mass index categories and age, men and women, 1996/97 through 2004/05

Age group	Body mass index category
	Underweight	Normal weight	Overweight	Obese Class I	Obese Class II & III
Men (number of observations)	120	4009	6851	2001	532
40–44	0.19	32.66*	50.46	12.89*	3.80
45–49	0.52	30.22*	50.42	14.09*	4.75
50–54	0.78	25.70	52.98	15.79	4.75
55–59 (ref)	0.86	24.57	50.86	17.87	5.83
60–64	0.88	28.31*	49.33	17.03	4.45
65–69	1.16	30.77*	49.15	15.26	3.66
70–74	1.15	31.85*	49.34	14.12	3.55
75–79	1.02	36.28*	49.26	11.09*	2.34*
80–84	3.91*	43.79*	42.09*	9.14*	1.08*
85–89	5.30*	53.34*	35.59*	5.45*	0.31*
Women (number of observations)	378	7288	5967	2326	950
40–44	1.43	62.75*	22.86*	8.50*	4.46
45–49	1.23	53.58*	29.35*	10.39	5.45
50–54	1.90	43.27	33.93*	14.09	6.81
55–59 (ref)	1.35	40.33	38.11	13.29	6.93
60–64	0.71	39.78	38.29	16.08	5.14
65–69	1.22	35.96	41.40	15.99	5.44
70–74	2.76	39.86	40.12	12.91	4.34*
75–79	3.03*	39.55	39.92	15.00	2.50*
80–84	3.25*	44.23	38.93	11.27	2.32*
85–89	7.71*	55.05*	27.78*	7.55*	1.90*

^*estimate of proportion in BMI category for particular age group is significantly different (p<0.05) from proportion among those aged 55 to 59

Note. Those with missing values for BMI are omitted.