Table 1. Sample characteristics of the 2007/08, 2011/12 and 2014/15 survey samples.
The study sample included Australian respondents aged ≥15 years reporting to work ≥35 hours/week. The (complete) survey samples were weighted by weights provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to reflect the population demographics at the time of survey and to account for probability of being sampled and differential response rates across the population, and gender and age standardised to the 2011/12 survey.
| 2007/08 | 2011/12 | 2014/15 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | N | % | |
| Overall | 7324 | 100% | 7283 | 100% | 6670 | 100% |
| Gender | ||||||
| Female | 2527 | 34.5% | 2469 | 33.9% | 2323 | 34.8% |
| Male | 4797 | 65.5% | 4814 | 66.1% | 4347 | 65.2% |
| Age | ||||||
| 15–34 years | 2752 | 37.6% | 2666 | 36.6% | 2506 | 37.6% |
| 35–54 years | 3521 | 48.1% | 3422 | 47.0% | 3136 | 47.0% |
| >55 years | 1051 | 14.4% | 1195 | 16.4% | 1028 | 15.4% |
| Educational level | ||||||
| No university | 5377 | 73.4% | 5032 | 69.1% | 4378 | 65.6% |
| University | 1947 | 26.6% | 2251 | 30.9% | 2293 | 34.4% |
| Household income | ||||||
| Lowest tertile | 438 | 6.0% | 313 | 4.3% | 311 | 4.7% |
| Middle tertile | 2758 | 37.7% | 2497 | 34.3% | 2181 | 32.7% |
| Highest tertile | 3164 | 43.2% | 3047 | 41.8% | 2767 | 41.5% |
| Not stated | 964 | 13.2% | 1426 | 19.6% | 1411 | 21.2% |
| Self-rated health | ||||||
| Poor, fair, good | 2746 | 37.5% | 2797 | 38.4% | 2487 | 37.3% |
| Very good, excellent | 4578 | 62.5% | 4486 | 61.6% | 4184 | 62.7% |
| Weight status | ||||||
| Underweight | 72 | 1.4% | 36 | 0.6% | 83 | 1.2% |
| Normal weight | 1796 | 34.9% | 2039 | 33.3% | 2204 | 33.0% |
| Overweight | 2015 | 39.2% | 2344 | 38.3% | 2556 | 38.3% |
| Obese | 1262 | 24.5% | 1705 | 27.8% | 1827 | 27.4% |
| Missing† | 2179 | 1159 | 0 | |||
| Leisure-time physical activity | ||||||
| <30 minutes/week | 2838 | 38.8% | 2495 | 34.3% | 2091 | 31.4% |
| 30–149 minutes/week | 1703 | 23.2% | 1556 | 21.4% | 1415 | 21.2% |
| ≥150 minutes/week | 2783 | 38.0% | 3232 | 44.4% | 3164 | 47.4% |
†The 2014/15 survey did not contain missing weight status data. To increase comparability across surveys, the percentages shown do not include the missing data.