4715.0.55.006 - National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Summary Booklet, 2004-05  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 20/02/2007  First Issue
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

Image: Health Risk Factors


HEALTH RISK FACTORS
    Smoking

    In 2004–05, half of the adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (50%) reported smoking one or more cigarettes per day, on average. After accounting for age differences between populations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults were more than twice as likely as non-Indigenous adults to be daily smokers.


    Alcohol consumption

    In the week prior to interview almost half of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults (49%) reported having consumed alcohol, of whom one-third (16%) reported drinking at risky or high risk levels. Indigenous men were more likely than Indigenous women to have consumed alcohol at risky/high risk levels in the week before the survey, except among those aged 55 years and over, where the rates for men and women were similar.

    After accounting for age differences, the proportion of Indigenous adults who reported drinking at risky/high risk levels was similar to that of non-Indigenous adults.


    Graph: Indigenous men: alcohol consumption by remoteness

    Graph: Indigenous women: alcohol consumption by remoteness
    Diet

    In 2004–05 the majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 12 years and over reported eating vegetables (95%) and/or fruit (86%) daily. Indigenous Australians living in remote areas may have less access to fruit and vegetables, where figures showed one in five people (20%) reported no usual daily fruit intake compared with one in eight (12%) in non-remote areas. Lack of daily vegetable intake was also significantly higher in remote areas, with 15% of Indigenous people in remote areas reporting no daily vegetable intake, compared to 2% of Indigenous Australians in non-remote areas.

    Body mass

    The Body Mass Index (BMI) was used in the 2004–05 NATSIHS and NHS to work out the proportion of people who are overweight or obese. Just under one-third of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over were recorded as being in the healthy weight range and 57% were overweight or obese.


    Graph: Body Mass Index Group by age, Indigenous people aged 15 years and over