CANBERRA, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Australians who have a poor diet, smoke or are overweight are more likely to have multiple chronic illnesses, according to a government report.
The report, which was published on Tuesday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), explored the prevalence of people living with two or more chronic conditions, known as multimorbidity.
It found that 9.7 million Australians, almost 40 percent of the national population, were estimated to be living with multimorbidity in 2022.
According to the report, multimorbidity is more common among people with more health risk factors, including smoking, poor diet, high blood pressure, insufficient physical activity and being overweight or obese.
AIHW spokesperson Amy Young said in a statement that 59 percent of Australian adults with four or more risk factors were living with multimorbidity in 2022 compared to 29 percent of adults with no risk factors.
"Some of the risk factors are preventable and modifying them can reduce an individual's risk of developing a chronic disease and lead to improved health outcomes," she said.
Chronic conditions are long-term illnesses with persistent effects, such as cancer, asthma, mental health conditions and cardiovascular disease, and are the leading cause of illness, disability and death in Australia.
The AIHW said on Tuesday that anxiety and depression were the most common pair of co-occurring chronic conditions among Australians, with 2.4 million people, or 9.3 percent of the population, affected by both in 2022.
An estimated 11 percent of children aged 0-14 years were living with multimorbidity in 2022, it said, compared to 79 percent of those aged 85 and over. ■
