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Adult—body mass index

Definition

Weight (body mass) relative to height used to assess the extent of weight deficit or excess in adults.

Components

Data Element
Implemented in 2 data elements

Comments

Context:

Public health and health care:

Body Mass Index (BMI) is used as an indicator of underweight, normal or healthy weight and overweight and obesity in adults and overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. On a population basis there is a strong association between BMI and health risk such as coronary heart disease, non-insulin dependant diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure in adults.

In population based surveys, BMI may be used:

  • to indicate the prevalence of thinness and overweight and their sociodemographic distribution (problem identification)
  • to evaluate health promotion and disease prevention programs (assessment of interventions)
  • to monitor progress towards National public health policy
  • to ascertain determinants and consequences of thinness and overweight
  • in nutrition and physical activity surveillance and long-term planning.

References


This content Based on Australian Institute of Health and Welfare material. Attribution provided as required under the AIHW CC-BY licence.

Related content

Relation Count
Data Elements implementing this Data Element Concept 2