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  • Original Article
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Age, period and birth cohort effects on prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian adults from 1990 to 2000

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 62, pages 898–907 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To assess the individual contributions of age, period and birth cohort to prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Australian population during 1990 to 2000.

Design:

Age-period-cohort Poisson regression modelling of data from National Health Surveys conducted in Australia in 1990, 1995 and 2000.

Subjects:

Adults aged 20 years and over. Weightings were applied to account for differences in sampling and participation rates so that the sample is representative of the entire Australian adult population.

Methods:

Twelve age groups, based on 5-year intervals from 20 to 24 years to greater than 75 years, three survey periods and 14 cohorts, also based on 5-year intervals from pre-1915 up to 1976–1980, were used in the analysis. The data were age-standardized to the 2000 population and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Log-linear models, for the prevalence rates of overall overweight (BMI ⩾25) and of obesity (BMI ⩾30) were fitted to the data.

Results:

Age (P<0.001), period (P<0.001) and cohort (P=0.002) all showed significant independent effects on prevalence of overall overweight in the Australian population such that prevalence rises with increasing age, recency of period and cohorts born since 1960. Age (P<0.001) and period (P<0.001) demonstrated strong effects on prevalence of obesity but birth cohort (P=0.07) was not significant. The effects were similar for men and women except that the overall effect of birth cohort on overall overweight was significant in women (P<0.05) but not men (P=0.09).

Conclusion:

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian adults continued to rise during the 1990s. The obesogenic environment seems to have worsened and more recently born cohorts may be at increased risk of overweight.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Australian Bureau of Statistics for providing the CURFS of the National Health Surveys. This work is supported by funding from NSW Health to the Centre for Overweight and Obesity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NSW Centre for Overweight and Obesity, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia

    M A Allman-Farinelli

  2. Physical Activity Research Centre, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia

    T Chey & A E Bauman

  3. NSW Centre for Public Health Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia

    T Gill

  4. International Obesity Taskforce, IASO/OTF Offices, London, UK

    W P T James

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  1. M A Allman-Farinelli
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  2. T Chey
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  3. A E Bauman
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  4. T Gill
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  5. W P T James
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Correspondence to M A Allman-Farinelli.

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Allman-Farinelli, M., Chey, T., Bauman, A. et al. Age, period and birth cohort effects on prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian adults from 1990 to 2000. Eur J Clin Nutr 62, 898–907 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602769

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