Trends and Factors Associated with Obesity Prevalence in Rural Australian Adults—Comparative Analysis of the Crossroads Studies in Victoria over 15 Years

Abstract

This study examined the changes in the prevalence of obesity and associated lifestyle factors using data from repeated cross-sectional, self-reported surveys (Crossroads I: 2001–2003 and Crossroads II: 2016–2018, studies) and clinic anthropometric measurements collected from regional and rural towns in the Goulburn Valley, Victoria. Given that past community studies have only focused categorically on dietary intake, or assessed caloric energy intake, we examined the difference in broad dietary practices at two different times. Clinical assessments from randomly selected household participants aged ≥18 years were analyzed. Differences in obesity prevalence were calculated for each individual ..