Fed: Aussies are quitting smoking, but still love their food and drink

AAP General News (Australia)
12-10-2009
Fed: Aussies are quitting smoking, but still love their food and drink

Australians might be butting out their cigarettes .. but new statistics reveal they
still love to eat and drink dangerously.

The latest snapshot from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows fewer people now
smoke and more young people are kicking the habit .. with 23 per cent of 18-24 year-olds
still smoking .. compared with 36 per cent in 1990.

But the data shows binge drinking is a major problem .. with one in seven men and one
in nine women boozing dangerously while the overall level of risky drinking hasn't fallen
in three years.

The country's other great vice .. food .. led to 37 per cent of all Australian adults
being classified as overweight in 2007-08 .. and another quarter obese.

And it's not just adults who are eating too much the statistics show a quarter of all
children aged between five and 17 were overweight or obese in 2007-08 .. that's up four
percentage points from 1995 levels.

AAP RTV bsb/sb/ar

KEYWORD: ABS HEALTH (CANBERRA)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.