Heart death hot spots

Regions and poorer areas hit hardest

REGIONAL Queensland has emerged as one the nation’s heart disease hot spots, with woefully inadequate levels of exercise and high levels of smoking driving the risk.

Queensland has eight regions in the nation’s top 20 for heart disease deaths, new Heart Foundation data shows. And the majority are outside metropolitan areas.

Still reeling from the floods that devastated their area, Cloncurry residents have a new woe – they have the highest heart disease death rate in the state and third highest in the nation.

The Heart Foundation has mapped the incidence of heart disease and heart disease risks and the Logan-Beaudesert, Brisbane South, Townsville, Darling Downs-Maranoa, Ipswich and Moreton Bay are among the nation’s top 20.

Smoking and inactivity have emerged as the top risk factors for heart disease.

Residents of the local government area of North Burnett that takes in the towns of Monto, Eidsvold, Mundubberra, Gayndah, Mt Perry and Biggenden, have the highest rates of insufficient exercise in the country; and the 16th highest smoking rate.

Hot on its heels are Balonne and Goondiwindi – both eighth in the nation for insufficient exercise.

In 2017 3970 people died from heart disease in Queens- land – 12.6 per cent of all deaths in the state compared to the national average of 11.6 per cent of all deaths.

The state has the second highest rate of sedentary behaviour after the Northern Territory with 23.4 per cent per cent of people doing no exercise in 2017-18 compared to the nation’s 18.1 per cent.

It has the second highest proportion of obese people. In 2017-18 31.7 per cent were obese compared to 27.9 per cent nationally; a further 37.6 per cent of Queenslanders were overweight.

Tasmania has the highest obesity with 34.2 per cent carrying way too much weight.

Queensland has the third highest number of smokers at 15.1 per cent compared to the

nation’s 14 per cent.

Heart Foundation’s John Kelly says hot spots have a high proportion of residents at significant disadvantage with difficulty accessing services.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death – taking over 18,000 lives a year and millions have key risk factors for the dis- ease but most are unaware it increases their chance of a heart attack.

Two thirds of Australians are overweight or obese, six million have high blood pressure, 5.6 million have high cholesterol, 2.5 million smoke daily and two in three do not do enough exercise.

News Regional Media and the Heart Foundation are calling on the federal government to have Medicare fund a heart health check for all Australians aged over 45 and indigenous Australians aged over 35 to cut the death rate.

Your BMI should be below 25, blood pressure below 130/80, total cholesterol below 5, fasting blood sugar below 5.5, you need 150 minutes of exercise a week, resistance exercise 2–3 times a week and at least five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit per day.