SYDNEY: Australians are smoking less than they were five years ago but are fatter and more anxious, according to a new survey profiling the nation’s health launched yesterday.
The Wellness Index, compiled by polling firm Roy Morgan Research and an initiative of health company Alere, has surveyed the wellbeing of 50,000 Australians since 2007 to paint a picture of lifestyle and disease. Roy Morgan chief Michele Levine said overall the index had declined slightly over the past five years, with improvements in measures such as alcohol consumption and smoking offset by a worsening in others.
“But there’s just as much bad news as good. For example, 736,000 more adults are now obese. And the number of people with anxiety has grown by 1.3 million.” Australia last year became the first country in the world to mandate plain packaging for tobacco products in a bid to curb smoking.
Australia is ranked fifth among advanced nations in terms of obesity after the United States, Mexico, New Zealand and Chile, according to the OECD.
Survey: Australians getting fatter, more anxious
