The health of young Australians
developed by The education team
education@aihw.gov.au
What exercise are they doing?
From the 2007-08 National Health Survey…
• 35% participated in moderate to high levels of physical
activity (in the 2 weeks before the survey)
• of these 43% were male and 28% were female
• 27% were sedentary (no exercise or very low levels)
• 15-17 year olds were more active than 18-24 year olds
They are getting heavier!
From 2007-08 National Health Survey… The OO factor!!
• 25% of children aged 5-17 years were OO
• 36% of 15-24 years were OO
• of these 13% were obese & 23% overweight
• Young males were more likely to be OO
• % of OO15-24 year olds increased from 29% to 36%
over the last decade
OO=obesity & overweight
What do they eat?
From 2007-08 National Health Survey…
• 1 in 3 young people met fruit intake
• 1 in 10 met vegetable intake
• 7% of young people did not eat any fruit
• 1% of young people did not eat any vegetables
Fruit, veges, exercise and weight!
% of young people (15-24 years) meeting recommended fruit and
vegetables and physical activity guidelines, and who are overweight or
obese, 2007-08
From Australia’s health 2010 Figure 6.7 Page 309
Tobacco use down
From the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey…
• 15-19 year olds – 8% smoked daily and 86%
had never smoked
• Males were generally more likely to be daily
smokers than females except in the 12–17yrs
age group, where females were more likely to
be daily smokers (3%) than males (2%)
What are they drinking?
From the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey…
• The proportion of males drinking alcohol was higher
than females for all age groups except for 12-17yr olds
(39% of females compared with 38% of males)
• 5% of 12-17 year olds drank alcohol weekly, compared
with 42% of adults
• The proportion of 16-17 year olds abstaining from
alcohol increased from 24% in 2007 to 32% in 2010
Using more drugs
From the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey…
• 29% of 15–19 year olds had used an illicit drug in the
preceding year
• Use of Illicit drugs by 14–17 year olds has increased
from 10% in 2007 to 13% in 2010
• Overall the most common types of illicit drugs by 14–17
year olds…
• 13% marijuana/cannabis ~up from 10% in 2007
• 1% ecstasy ~down from 2% in 2007
• 0.3% cocaine ~down from 0.5% in 2007
Chlamydia rates rising
From Young Australian’s their health and wellbeing 2011…
•
From 1998 to 2008 the notification rate for chlamydia
has increased nearly fivefold
•
Young people aged 12-24 years accounted for over
90% of the cases
•
of these 50% more females than males
Burden of disease
From Young Australian’s their health and wellbeing 2011…
In 2010…
• Almost 50% of the estimated total burden of disease
(bod) in young people was due to mental disorders
• 1 in 4 people aged 16-24 years had experienced
a mental disorder in the last 12mths
• Females were more likely to have experienced a
mental disorder
• 18% of bod was due to injuries (road traffic accidents
and self-harm)
What’s killing our youth?
From Young Australian’s their health and wellbeing 2011…
In 2007…
• 1,418 deaths – which is only 1% of total Australian
deaths
• Males accounted for 70% of deaths
• Injury and poisoning accounted for 66% of deaths
• Of this road traffic accidents and self-harm
accounted for 35% and 37% respectively
What’s killing our youth?
From Young Australian’s their health and wellbeing 2011…
• Males were 3 times more likely to die from road traffic
accidents and self-harm
• Cancer was the second leading cause of death-10%
(leukaemia and brain cancer were the leading cause)
• Indigenous young people were 2.5 times more likely to
die than non-Indigenous young people
Indigenous young people
From The health and welfare of Australia's Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people: an overview 2011
• In 2008, almost one-third of young Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people (aged 16–24 years) had
high or very high levels of psychological distress—
more than twice the rate of young non-Indigenous
Australians
• Assault was the most common cause of injury
hospitalisation for Indigenous young people, almost 5
times that of non-Indigenous young people
Indigenous young people
From The health and welfare of Australia's Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people: an overview 2011
• The 2007–08 National Health Survey showed that
40% of young Indigenous Australians (aged 15–24
years) were daily smokers, more than twice the rate of
non-Indigenous young people (16%)
• Indigenous young people died at a rate 2.5 times
higher than non-indigenous young people
The good news is…
Young males are dying less
Mortality for young people aged 15-24 years, 1987-2007
From Australia’s health 2010 Figure 6.6 Page 308
•Overall, large declines in death rates.
•Declines in asthma hospitalisations.
•Improved survival for cancer, with survival for melanoma
very high.
•Favourable trends in some risk and protective factors,
such as declines in smoking and illicit substance use.
•Most Year 10 and 12 students using contraception.
More information
www.aihw.gov.au/education