Statistics about 'lifestyle' health risk factors-alcohol and
tobacco consumption, physical inactivity, and overweight and
obesity-can reveal a lot about the state of a nation's health and
why some people or groups of people have better or worse health
than others.
But data currently available in Australia on these risk factors
can be conflicting or inconsistent between data collections,
according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare.
The report, Indicators of Health Risk Factors: the AIHW
View, will be launched in Noosa today at the Third
International Scientific Meeting on Global Issues in Surveillance
of Health Behaviours in Populations.
Head of the AIHW's Population Health Unit, Dr Paul Jelfs, said
that the differences occurred because various data collection
agencies use different survey concepts and methodologies.
'For example, the Hunter Valley Research Foundation's 2000
Active Australia survey reports that 15% of adults are sedentary
and the proportion has been rising in the last few years. The 2001
Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey (NHS)
reports the proportion of sedentary adults as 31%, with the figures
coming down in the past few years.'
'The two surveys defined "sedentary" very differently, and the
concept of "exercise" was also quite different between the two
surveys. Active Australia included participation in mostly
leisure-time physical activities and included walking for
transport. The NHS looked at structured exercise only and
specifically excluded walking for transport.'
'What we have tried to do in this report is unravel differences
such as these and recommend a way forward that would see more
consistent information collected by all agencies.'
The report also alerts data collection agencies and data users
about general shortcomings in current data.
'For example, in the area of overweight and obesity we have
shown that figures based on self-reported height and weight are
underestimates because people consistently overestimate their
height and underestimate their weight.
'In surveys where height and weight are physically measured we
also know that many people who feel they might be overweight or
obese will not elect to participate in the survey, which will also
bias the results.'
Among the report's recommendations is that people younger than
18 years be included in interviewing and reporting on drinking,
something currently not done.
'The AIHW's National Drug Strategy Household survey shows that
at least half all lifetime drinkers began drinking by the age of
16, and that the prevalence of drinking in the 14-17 years age
group was 66.3%', Dr Jelfs said.
'What we really need now is input from data users, collection
agencies, the community, and others who analyse risk factor data,
so we can work towards a unified approach in the collection of this
kind of information.'
17 October 2003
Further information: Dr Paul Jelfs, AIHW, tel.
0407 283 109
Media copies of the report: Publications Officer,
AIHW, tel. 02 6244 1032
Availability: Check the AIHW
Publications Catalogue for details.