Survey raising health worries

TOWNSVILLE residents are more likely to have heart problems, be obese and smoke, new figures have revealed.

Data released by the Heart Foundation reveals that rates for coronary heart disease mortality, smoking, obesity and heart- related hospital admissions in the Townsville region were above both the state and national averages.

Out of 93 regions across the country, Townsville ranked eighth for coronary heart disease mortality, 13th for smoking, 12th for heart- related hospital admissions and 33rd for obesity.

Within Queensland, Townsville ranked fourth for coronary heart disease mortality, third for smoking, eighth for heart- related hospital admissions and ninth in obesity.

The Townsville region has 94.5 deaths per 100,000 people from coronary heart disease, compared to a Queensland average of 83.6 and a national average of 75.5.

Townsville Hospitals’ director of cardiology Dr Raibhan Yadav said Hospital and Health Service people in rural and regional Australia faced different challenges to metro- politan residents when it came to managing heart health.

“There is work to be done to make sure our community gets into the habit of managing their heart health and this is where general practitioners play a key role,” he said.

Mr Yadav said it was important that people talked to their GP and made sure they were aware of their own cholesterol, blood pressure, and whether there was any family history of heart disease.

“GPs can also assist in managing lifestyle factors such as smoking or obesity which contributes to poor heart health,” he said.

Heart Foundation Queensland health director Rachelle Foreman said the new data was not a surprise.

“Lifestyle factors like weight, smoking and your activity levels have a big impact on your risk of developing heart disease,” she said.

“It just makes sense to invest in programs that will help people to stop smoking, increase their activity and develop healthy eating habits.”

Mr Yadav said despite the figures, there was some good news for North Queensland.

“Smoking rates have been trending down and the rate of people who are classified as obese has dropped from 36.3 per cent in 2011 to 32.4 per cent in this latest Heart Foundation survey,” he said.