New report reveals State, Territory health status

Tasmanians eat their vegetables, West Australians eat their fruit and Victorians are the most responsible drinkers, according to 2014-15 figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The National Health Survey provides a nationwide insight into health issues including smoking, alcohol consumption and weight across all States and Territories.

Western Australians are the most likely to consider themselves to be in excellent or very good health (60.8%) and are most likely to eat the recommended daily serves of fruit (54.2%).

At the same time, more Western Australians consume alcohol at a level that puts them at risk of alcohol-related harm over a lifetime according to the National Health and Medical Research Council lifetime risk guidelines (20.8%).

Tasmania’s older age distribution is only part of the story in explaining their higher rates of many health conditions including arthritis (23.4%), heart disease (7.7%) and hypertension (16.4%), however Tasmania has higher rates even after age is taken into account.

The younger population of the Northern Territory only explains part of topping the smoking rate with 20.9% of adults being current daily smokers compared to the ACT with 12.4%.

People in the ACT exercise the most with over half of adults aged 18-64 (55.5%) participating in sufficient exercise, although it has the highest proportion of hayfever sufferers (25.9%).

Victoria had the lowest risky drinking rates with the lowest proportion exceeding both the National Health and Medical Research Council lifetime (15.6%) and single occasion risk (42.5% with NSW) guidelines.