Trends
There was a slight decrease in the percentage of adults who were insufficiently active between 2007–08 and 2017–18, after adjusting for age—from 69% to 65% (AIHW 2019b). However, rates did not change significantly between 2014–15 and 2017–18. These data exclude workplace physical activity as information on this was collected in 2017–18 only.
Children and young people
Physical activity guidelines for children and young people
Physical activity for children includes:
- energetic play (such as climbing, running, jumping and dancing)
- going for a swim, walk, jog or bike ride
- playing a sport like tennis, soccer or basketball
Children aged 2–5 (who have not yet started full-time schooling) should spend at least 180 minutes a day on a variety of physical activities, including energetic play, with no more than 60 minutes of screen time per day.
Children and young people aged 5–17 should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per day, and no more than 120 minutes of recreational screen time per day (Department of Health 2019).
See Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (Birth to 5 years) and Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Young People (5–17 years).
The most recent data available on physical activity and sedentary screen time for children and young people aged 2 and over is from the ABS 2011–12 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. However, under the Intergenerational Health and Mental Health Study, the ABS National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey is scheduled to be conducted again in 2023.
In 2011–12, 83% of children aged 2–5, 88% of children aged 5–12, and 98% of young people aged 13–17 had not met the physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines on all 7 days in the previous week (AIHW 2018).
See Physical activity across the life stages for more information on the physical activity and sedentary behaviour of Australian children and young people.
In 2015, 2.5% of the disease burden in Australia could have been avoided if all people in Australia were sufficiently active (as defined in the Australian Burden of Disease Study) (AIHW 2019a).
The burden due to insufficient physical activity for associated diseases was:
- 19% for type 2 diabetes
- 17% for bowel cancer
- 16% for uterine cancer
- 14% for dementia
- 12% for coronary heart disease
- 11% for breast cancer
- 10% for stroke.
See Burden of disease.
See Health risk factors among Indigenous Australians for information on insufficient physical activity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
There were no significant differences in the prevalence of insufficient physical activity between remoteness areas for adults in 2017–18, after adjusting for age (AIHW 2019b). However, there were differences between socioeconomic areas—63% of adults in the lowest socioeconomic areas were insufficiently active compared with 48% in the highest, after adjusting for age (Figure 2). See Rural and remote health and Health across socioeconomic groups.