Table 1.

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.