Health of the nation shows we’re still fat, inactive and drinking too much

The number of people experiencing a mental health condition has increased dramatically over the past five years, with one in four people now affected.

Alcohol use has increased significantly, with more than one in four adults drinking at levels that exceed the Australian Adult Alcohol Guideline.

The number of people experiencing a mental health condition has increased dramatically in the past five years, with one in four people now affected, but rates of obesity are holding steady and smoking rates continue to plummet.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday released its five-yearly National Health Survey, which showed an enormous 81 per cent of people had at least one long-term health condition, while half had at least one chronic condition.

Mental and behavioural conditions topped the list, followed by back problems, which 15 per cent of people experienced, and arthritis.

The proportion of adult daily smokers has more than halved over the past 20 years, from 22.4 per cent in 2001 to 10.6 per cent in 2022.

Almost three in five adults have never smoked, up markedly in the last decade from half of all adults in 2011-12.

It reflects a rejection of cigarettes by younger people, but vaping is on the rise, with one in seven people now reporting they have used a vaping device at least once in their life.

There has also been a big increase in the number of people meeting daily physical activity guidelines, even though almost four times as many do not meet the guidelines and almost three million people are almost totally sedentary.

“On average, in 2022 we were doing 69 minutes of physical activity every day and nearly half of us spent most of our work day sitting,” said ABS director of health statistics Robert Long.

Alcohol use has increased significantly, with more than one in four adults drinking at levels that exceed the Australian Adult Alcohol Guideline, which is no more than 10 standard drinks a week or five or more drinks on any one day at least monthly. Young people remained the most likely group to drink to excess, with one in three exceeding national guidelines in 2022.

Australia’s nutrition habits are poor and in fact have declined over time, with only four in 10 adults eating the recommended daily intake of fruit and a paltry 6.5 per eating the recommended five serves a day of vegetables. The number of people saying they do not eat fruit daily was double in 2022 what it was at the last survey five years ago.

Statistics on breastfeeding were heartening, with nine in 10 children aged up to three years having received some breast milk. However, only two in five were exclusively breastfed to six months of age.

Australia also continues to experience high rates of food allergy, affecting one in seven people, while 24 per cent of people reported having hay fever or allergic rhinitis.