Overview

Health risk factors are attributes, characteristics or exposures that increase the likelihood of a person developing a disease or health disorder. Behavioural risk factors are those that individuals have the most ability to modify. Biomedical risk factors are bodily states that are often influenced by behavioural risk factors.

More reports and statistics on risk factors can be found under Chronic disease, Overweight & obesity, Food & nutrition, Physical activity and Social determinants.

Latest findings

Almost 2 in 3 Australian adults (63%) were overweight or obese in 2014–15, similar to 2011–12 Over 1 in 2 Australian adults aged 18–64 years (52%) were not sufficiently active in 2014–15—down from 56% in 2011–12 About one-third of Australians’ energy is from discretionary foods. This is highest for teenagers aged 14–18, at 41% For adults aged 51–70, alcoholic drinks account for more than one-fifth (22%) of discretionary food intake 1 in 5 Australian adults (18%) consumed more than 2 standard drinks per day in 2016—a decrease from 22% in 2007 Almost 2 in 3 Australian adults (63%) had abnormal blood lipids in 2011–12 Overall, the diets of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are similar Since 1995, the contribution of added sugars, total fat and saturated fat to energy intake has generally decreased Almost 1 in 8 Australian adults (13%) smoked daily in 2016 3.1% of Australian adults had impaired fasting glucose in 2011–12 Nearly all Australians (99%) aged 2–18, and 9 in 10 adults aged 19 and over do not eat enough vegetables Although fruit intake is closest to the recommendations, nearly 4 in 5 adults (77%) aged 19–50 do not eat enough Over 1 in 3 Australian adults (34%) had high blood pressure in 2014–15—a slight rise from 32% in 2011–12 Iron and calcium intakes for girls and women in some age groups need to improve

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Highlights

Nearly all Australians(99%) aged 2–18, and 9 in 10 adults aged 19 and over do not eat enough vegetables
30%of children aged 2–17 and 44% of adults aged 18 and over met the physical activity guideline in 2014–15
63%of Australian adults had abnormal blood lipids in 2011–12
4.1%of men had impared fasting glucose compared with 2.1% of women in 2011–12
Nearly two-thirds(63%) of Australian adults were overweight or obese in 2014–15
1 in 5(20%) children aged 2–4 and about 1 in 4 (27%) children and adolescents aged 5–17 were overweight or obese in 2014–15
23%of adults had measured high blood pressure in 2014–15