Australia fourth in
long-life chart
June 22, 2004
AUSTRALIANS are living longer
than ever, but a significant number are still lazy and fat, according to a
new report.
In its two-yearly look at Australia's health, the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare (AIHW) has given the nation's health a general thumbs up,
describing it as very good.
But while there is plenty to be happy about, AIHW director Richard Madden
says there are still some serious challenges.
"In the wider population, risk factors such as smoking remain, while others,
such as obesity and insufficient physical activity, have gained prominence,"
he said today.
"And the health of particular sections of the population, notably Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander peoples, has not improved."
Australia's Health 2004 says Australians have the fourth best life
expectancy in the world, behind Japan, Iceland and Sweden.
A woman born in 2002 can expect to live on average 82.6 years, while a man
can expect to live 77.4 years.
However, the picture is much grimmer for Aborigines, whose life expectancy
is about 20 years less than other Australians.
Heart disease remains the biggest killer, followed by cancer, but suicide
rates for young men are at their lowest level
since 1984.
Smoking is the biggest contributor to an early death, followed by lack of
exercise and high blood pressure.
Australians have become significantly fatter over the past 20 years, with
more than seven million Australians classified as overweight or obese.
A 2001 health study found 16 per cent of adult men - up from nine per cent
in 1989/90 - and 17 per cent of adult women - up from 10 per cent - were
obese.
Some 42 per cent of men over 18 and 25 per cent of women were overweight.
The poorest Australians were nearly twice as likely to be obese as the
richest.
Australia is also a nation of couch potatoes, with more than half the
population doing less than the daily recommended level of exercise for a
healthy life. One in six people do no exercise at all.
The sexual lives of Australians are also changing.
The average age at which people first have sex is 16, but more than 40 per
cent of boys and one-quarter of girls have sexual intercourse before
reaching the traditional age of consent.
People are delaying marriage and babies, if they decide to have children at
all.
The most popular age for women to have babies is between 30 and 34, while
the fertility rate has slipped to 1.75 births per woman in 2002, half the
the 1961 fertility rate of 3.61.