CANBERRA, Sept. 10 (Xinhua)-- Many health risk factors of Australians are growing, although some, such as smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, have dropped among young people, according to a report released Tuesday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report "Risk factor trends: age patterns in key health risk factors over time" presents comparisons over time for different age groups on key risk factors for health including overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, poor diet, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.
Although there is a good news that rates of smoking have fallen substantially among young people, particularly teenagers, in the last decade, AIHW spokesperson Dr Lynelle Moon indicated these growing factors for diseases such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease were the key risk factors.
According to the report, between 1995 and 2007-08, measurements of body mass index and waist circumference among adults rose. This resulted in higher rates of overweight/obesity for all ages, with the largest rise among females aged 12 to 44.
Additionally, between 1989-90 and 2007-08, the proportion of adults who were physically inactive remained high at over 50 percent for all age groups, with a rise in physical inactivity seen in 15-24 year olds between 1995 to 2007-08.
Most adults and people aged 12 to 17 did not eat enough vegetables in 2004-05 and the trend increased across most age groups by 2007-08, the report found.
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