AAP
September 11, 2012
YOUNG Australians are smoking less but as a nation our waistlines are growing, a new report into health risk factors shows.
The report, released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), compared key risk factors for health including being overweight, obesity, physical inactivity, poor diet, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption over time.
AIHW spokeswoman Lynelle Moon said these were the key risk factors for diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
Dr Moon said monitoring the risk factors was important in guiding and targeting preventive health interventions.
While there was good news in the past decade, with smoking rates falling substantially among young people, particularly teenagers, there were a number of areas of concern.
The report revealed between 1995 and 2007-08 body mass index and waist circumference among adults rose, resulting in higher rates of overweight Australians and obesity for all ages.
The largest rise was in females aged 12 to 44.
“Additionally, between 1989-90 and 2007-08 the proportion of adults who were physically inactive remained high at over 50 per cent for all age groups, with a rise in physical inactivity seen in 15- to 24-year-olds between 1995 to 2007-08,” Dr Moon said.
Most adults and people aged 12 to 17 did not eat enough vegetables in 2004-05 and the trend increased across most age groups by 2007-08, the report found.
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