The current trends in Australia’s health “progressed” according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Their Measures of Australia’s Progress, 2013 cover various components of Australia’s health with the most important indicator being life expectancy at birth.
Australia’s life expectancy at birth indicates that our current overall health is trending upwards. Life expectancy is one of the most widely recognised measures of population health. Since 2002 our life expectancy has continued to increase, indicating an increase in health status. Life expectancy has increased 2.5 years for males and 1.7 years for females in the last 10 years.
Another current trend in Australia’s health is that disability free years are increasing. This indicates that our physical health continues to improve. Disability free years are are the years of life where a person can maintain a good quality of life and be independent. This does not mean, however, that years with a disability are considered of less worth.
The current trend in Australia’s mental health indicates that we are having less people suffering from psychological stress. However, this downwards trend does not exist in the 18-24 year age bracket.
In contrast the number of Australians who are overweight or obese has steadily increased over the last 10 years. However, the tend in smoking habits shows a clear decrease in smoking across Australia. These together provide a mixed view of Australia’s lifestyle and whether it is improving or not.
Our environmental impacts on health are also fairly steady if we use air pollution as our measurement. The Australian Bureau of Statistics say:
there has been little change in the health of Australia’s air in recent years because the average air quality index for capital cities (our progress indicator for air and atmosphere) hasn’t moved much.
And indicate that the goal is for this measure to decline in the future.
These are just some of the current trends in Australia’s health easily found here.
