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Living
dangerously: Australians with multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease
Released 24 Feb 2005
A rising epidemic: obesity
in Australian children and adolescents
Released Oct 2004
Health,
wellbeing and body weight: characteristics of overweight and obesity in
Australia, 2001
Released 4 Mar 2004
Obesity
trends in older Australians
Released 12 Feb 2004
Are all
Australians gaining weight? Differentials in overweight and obesity among
adults, 1989-90 to 2001
Released 10 Dec 2003
A growing
problem. Trends and patterns in overweight and obesity among adults in
Australia, 1980 to 2001
Released 12 Sep 2003
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FAQs presents answers to many of the frequently asked questions about the services and information on the AIHW website.
Contents
- What are the preventable risk factors for cardiovascular disease?
- What are the preventable risk factors for Type 2 diabetes?
- How are overweight and obesity measured?
- How much physical activity is sufficient?
What are the preventable risk factors for cardiovascular disease?
Major preventable risk factors for cardiovascular disease include:
- tobacco smoking
- high blood pressure
- high blood cholesterol
- overweight
- physical inactivity
- nutritional factors
- Type 2 diabetes
See the Cardiovascular Disease home page for more information or for summary data, go to Statistics.
See the Risk Factors home page for more details on specific risk factors.
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What are the preventable risk factors for Type 2 diabetes?
Major preventable risk factors for Type 2 diabetes include:
- tobacco smoking
- high blood pressure
- high blood cholesterol
- overweight
- physical inactivity
- nutritional factors
- impaired glucose tolerance
See the Diabetes home page for more information or for summary data, go to Statistics.
See the Risk Factors home page for more details on specific risk factors.
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How are overweight and obesity measured?
There are two methods for measuring overweight and obesity.
Body mass index
The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a commonly used and easy to apply measure. A person's BMI is equal to their weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in metres.
The following classification, defined by the World Health Organization, is used for people aged 18 and over.
Table 1: Classification of BMI for people aged 18 and over
| BMI (kg/m2) | Classification | Risk of comorbidities |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 18.5 | Underweight | Low (but risk of other clinical problems increased) |
| 18.5 to less than 25 | Normal weight range | Average |
| 25 to less than 30 | Overweight | Increased |
| 30 or more | Obese | |
| 30 to less than 35 | Obese class 1 | Moderate |
| 35 to less than 40 | Obese class 2 | Severe |
| 40 or more | Obese class 3 | Very severe |
For children and adolescents, different BMI cutoffs are required. See the Department of Health and Ageing's Promoting Healthy Weight web page for more information.
Waist circumference
Excess weight around the abdominal region is a good indicator of increased risk of developing chronic disease, particularly Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. Waist circumference is used to indicate abdominal overweight. The following classification is suitable only for persons aged 18 and over.
Table 2: Classification of waist circumference for people aged 18 and over
| Waist circumference | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Risk of metabolic complications | Men | Women | Classification |
| Increased | 94 cm or more | 80 cm or more | Abdominally overweight |
| Substantially increased | 102 cm or more | 88 cm or more | Abdominally obese |
Go to the overweight and obesity page for more information.
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How much physical activity is sufficient?
There are two different ways of calculating 'sufficient' physical activity for health. These are:
- the accumulation of a sufficient amount of activity over a week
- the accumulation of a sufficient amount of activity by participation in a sufficient number of sessions over a week.
The National Physical Activity Guidelines for Australians (DHAC 1999) recommend that, to achieve health benefits, a person should participate in 30 minutes of at least moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week. For the purposes of calculating 'sufficient' activity, this is interpreted as 30 minutes on at least 5 days of the week; a total of at least 150 minutes of activity per week. Therefore the two definitions of 'sufficient' above become:
- the accumulation of at least 150 minutes of activity over 1 week
- the accumulation of at least 150 minutes of activity and at least 5 sessions of activity over 1 week.
Go to the physical inactivity page for more information.
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