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The number of Australians smoking daily has dropped, more adults than ever have a mental health condition, and less than 10 per cent of us are eating the recommended amount of fruit and veggies.
That’s according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The National Health Survey provides an insight into the health of Australians in 2022 by collecting information on long-term health conditions, smoking, weight, alcohol consumption and physical activity.
Short on time?
Here’s a snapshot of some of the key statistics from the 2022 National Health Survey:
- Eight in ten people had at least one long-term health condition
- One in two people had at least one chronic condition
- More than one in four (26.8%) of adults exceeded the Australian Adult Alcohol Guideline in 2022
- 65.8% of adults were overweight or obese
- One in ten adults were current daily smokers in 2022, down from 22.4% in 2001
- Prevalence of heart, stroke and vascular disease has increased by 4.1% since 2001
- The prevalence of high cholesterol has increased by 6.8% since 2011–12
- The physical activity guidelines were met by 23.9% of people aged 15 years and over
More Australians have never smoked
Robert Long, who is the ABS director of health statistics, said almost three in five or 58.3 per cent of adults had never smoked, which has gone up in the last decade from 51.1 per cent in 2011–12.
“One in seven adults had used e-cigarettes and vaping devices at least once in their life,” he said.
Emeritus Professor Wayne Hall from the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research at the University of Queensland said the decline in daily smoking was good evidence of the success of public health campaigns among younger adults about the health risks of cigarette smoking.
“It is especially pleasing to see the daily smoking rate is as low as a 1.6 per cent among 15 to 17-year-olds and 7.3 per cent in adults 18-24 years,” he said.
“Smoking rates in these age groups have declined over the past three national health surveys in the absence of similar declines in those over 55 years.”
However, he said it was clear from the data that increased e-cigarette use had not prevented a decline in cigarette smoking among adolescents and young adults.
The data shows one in six (17.9 per cent) young people aged 15–17 years had used e-cigarette or vaping devices, with the figure rising to almost two in five (38.0 per cent) for those aged 18–24 years.
One in fourteen (6.8 per cent) young people aged 15–17 years reported currently using e-cigarette or vaping devices, with use peaking at almost one in 10 (9.3 per cent) among those aged 18–24 years.
“Indeed, the data suggest that increased e-cigarette use among younger adults may have contributed to the decline in cigarette smoking,” Professor Hall said.
“It would be desirable to see more data on the frequency of e-cigarette use and the extent to which e-cigarette users have switched from smoking cigarettes to the exclusive use of e-cigarettes.”
Australians with potential long-term and chronic health conditions may be undiagnosed
The survey also showed eight in ten Australians had at least one long-term health condition, and half had at least one selected chronic condition.
“Three in four adults with high measured blood pressure did not report having hypertension,” Mr Long said.
“This suggests that many people with high measured blood pressure remain undiagnosed.”
Lorimer Moseleys of the University of South Australia said the data strengthened the call to ensure people disabled by chronic pain and mental ill health had access to care models “grounded in education and active self-management strategies”.
“Clinical guidelines the world over … recommend these interventions, but not enough Australians are receiving them,” Professor Moseleys said.
“The new wave of treatments for chronic back pain that focus on training the brain and the body offer hope for the two in five Australians suffering from chronic pain.”
More than four in 10 adults were eating the recommended daily intake of fruit, but only 6.5 per cent ate the recommended daily intake of vegetables, according to the data.
Almost twice the proportion of adults reported that they do not usually eat fruit daily in 2022 when compared to over a decade ago – up from 6.3 per cent in 2011–12 to 12.0 per cent in 2022.
“On average, we were doing 69 minutes of physical activity every day and nearly half of us spent most of our work day sitting,” Mr Long said.
The findings are based on responses from about 13,100 households across Australia collected from January 2022 to April 2023.
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Sources 2/ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-15/national-health-survey-smoking-drinking-health-conditions/103233116 The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
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