QLD tops Health Foundation’s naughty list with inactive, fat smokers

The Sunshine State, with its beaches and love of sports, is fast becoming home to obese couch potatoes, health experts reveal.

Heart transplant recipient Chris Laurie says walking and exercise were vital to his health.

Logan and Beaudesert residents are the fattest in the state and it could be because they are also the most inactive and have a high rate of smoking.

Startling statistics released today by the Heart Foundation show 75 per cent of residents in the area, south of Brisbane, are inactive couch potatoes with nearly 23 per cent having high blood pressure and a whopping 40 per cent who are obese.

But worse than that – the data showed Logan residents died at the second highest rate of heart attacks in the state behind only the Queensland Outback.

The ranking was worse than the No3 position the area achieved in September when the region’s residents were ranked as some of the sickest in the country coming in the 20 top hot spots for heart disease deaths and hospitalisations.

Townsville, Ipswich and Mackay were also in the state’s top 10 addresses for dying from heart diseases.

The latest Australian Heart Map figures showed the heart disease death rate in the Logan-Beaudesert region was 88.3 per 100,000 people – more than 20 per cent above the state average.

Brisbane and capital cities were not as adversely affected with people in regional areas such as Logan faring the worst and echoing a nationwide trend with Queensland the second most inactive state after South Australia.

Logan and Beaudesert also cracked the foundation’s national naughty list, with residents ranked as the country’s second most inactive region, only behind Sydneysiders and sixth in terms of obesity rates.

Heart transplant recipient Chris Laurie, who marked 32 years since his operation, warned Logan residents of the dangers of no exercise.

Heart transplant recipient Chris Laurie says exercise has saved his life.

Mr Laurie, who moved from Yarrabilba to Caloundra this year, said regular exercise was key to his survival.

“I walk to work every day and walk along the waterfront in the afternoon,” he said.

“It keeps the blood flowing and helps keep the bad cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein) levels down.

“From exercise, I have been able to keep down the plaque levels in my arteries.”

More than three in four Logan residents were not even clocking up 30 minutes of mild exercise, such as walking, each day, only behind Sydney’s southwest.

The new maps confirmed regional Queensland was home to seven of the 10 least active regions in the country, and half of Australia’s top 10 high blood pressure hot spots.

Nine of the 10 least active locations were in regional Queensland, while the places clocking up the most steps, led by inner-city Brisbane, were in the southeast corner.

The Ipswich, Darling Downs-Maranoa and Wide Bay regions round out Australia’s top five inactivity hot spots.

But Central Queensland, not Logan, ranked as Australia’s high blood pressure capital, where the “silent killer” affected almost one in four adults.

High blood pressure was also a big problem in Mackay-Isaac-Whitsundays, Townsville, Wide Bay and Toowoomba areas, which ranked at four, five, six and 10 out of all the regions across Australia.

Almost two in five Logan-Beaudesert residents were recorded as obese, the highest rate of any Queensland region and more than 50 per cent higher than in Brisbane’s south.

Heart Foundation Queensland chief executive Stephen Vines said the results highlighted a great divide in heart health across some communities.

“This paints a grim picture of how Australia’s single biggest killer continues to stalk the Sunshine State, and the heart health gaps that exist depending on where you call home,” Mr Vines said.

“It’s no coincidence that regions with the highest rates of heart disease are also likely to be the most disadvantaged areas.”

Australia’s top 10 physical inactivity hot spots

Sydney – South West (NSW)

Logan – Beaudesert (QLD)

Ipswich (QLD)

Darling Downs – Maranoa (QLD)

Wide Bay (QLD)

Sydney – Blacktown (NSW)

Central Queensland (QLD)

Adelaide – North (SA)

Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday (QLD)

Moreton Bay – North (QLD)

Australia’s top 10 high blood pressure hot spots

Central Queensland (QLD)

Hunter Valley exc Newcastle (NSW)

Sydney – Parramatta (NSW)

Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday (QLD)

Townsville (QLD)

Wide Bay (QLD)

Western Australia – Outback (South) (WA)

Illawarra (NSW)

Shepparton (VIC)

Toowoomba (QLD)