Obesity in South Australian adults – prevalence, projections and generational assessment over 13 years

Objectives: To examine the trend in obesity prevalence using annual representative cross‐sectional samples of the South Australian population, to project the increase of obesity using current trends, and to examine the increase in prevalence by generational assessment. Methods: Face‐to‐face interviews of representative population samples of people aged 18 years and over living in South Australia from 1991 to 1998 and again in 2001 and 2003. Information on height and weight was provided by participants, in order to calculate body mass index (BMI) as a measure of obesity. Results: The proportion of respondents classified as obese according to their selfreported body mass index (BMI ≥ 30 to