Summary
Health risk factors are attributes, characteristics or exposures that increase the likelihood of a person developing a disease or health disorder. Examples of health risk factors include risky alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and high blood pressure. High-quality information on health risk factors is important in providing an evidence base to inform health policy, program and service delivery.
New information on lifetime risky alcohol consumption, high blood pressure and insufficient physical activity are presented in the fact sheets below. These fact sheets display variation in health risk factors across Primary Health Network (PHN) areas.
In 2014–15:
- Around 1 in 6 Australian adults (17%) reported lifetime risky alcohol consumption
- Over half of Australian adults (56%) reported insufficient physical activity participation
- Almost 1 in 3 Australian adults (34%) had high blood pressure.
- Lifetime risky alcohol consumption fact sheet (PDF, 184 KB)
- Insufficient physical activity fact sheet (PDF, 186.1 KB)
- Uncontrolled high blood pressure fact sheet (PDF, 209.2 KB)
This update is accompanied by an interactive web tool that shows how your local area compares with the national average and allows comparison between each area.