Physical inactivity

In 2018, physical inactivity accounted for 2.4% of the total disease burden among Indigenous Australians.

These estimates reflect the amount of disease burden that could have been avoided if all Indigenous Australians were sufficiently physically active (see ABDS 2018 Risk factor estimates for Indigenous Australians data table S1).

Physical inactivity was causally linked to the burden from type 2 diabetes, bowel cancer, dementia, coronary heart disease and stroke, as well as uterine and breast cancer in females.

How much burden was attributable to physical inactivity?

In 2018 among Indigenous Australians, physical inactivity was responsible for 24% of the total disease burden due to type 2 diabetes, 21% of coronary heart disease burden, 16% of uterine cancer burden, 15% due to bowel cancer, 13% of stroke burden, 12% of dementia burden and 5% of breast cancer.

This interactive data visualisation shows the burden attributable to physical inactivity among Indigenous Australians by linked disease. The main section shows a horizontal bar graph which can be customised to report data according to year, sex and measure of attributable burden. Each bar represents the attributable burden of the disease linked to physical inactivity.

How did burden attributable to physical inactivity vary by age and sex?

Disease burden due to physical inactivity was measured among Indigenous Australians aged 15 and over. Total burden due to physical inactivity among Indigenous Australians was low in people aged 15–34 and increased with age, peaking in ages 65–84.

In Indigenous males of all ages, the most burden due to physical inactivity was from coronary heart disease. This was similar for Indigenous females aged 15–84, with dementia causing the most burden among those aged 85 and over.

This interactive data visualisation shows the amount of burden attributable to physical inactivity among Indigenous Australians by age group and linked disease. The main section shows a stacked bar graph which can be customised to report data according to year, sex, disease group and measure of attributable burden. Each bar represents the attributable burden within a particular age group. Each bar is also split into separate components with each colour representing a disease linked to physical inactivity.

How has disease burden due to physical inactivity changed over time?

The age-standardised rate of total burden attributable to physical inactivity (from all linked diseases) among Indigenous Australians decreased by 46% between 2003 and 2018 (from 24.5 to 13.3 DALY per 1,000 population).

This interactive data visualisation shows the rate of burden attributable to physical inactivity among Indigenous Australians by year. The main section shows a horizontal bar graph which can be customised to report data according to year, sex and measure of attributable burden. Each bar represents the attributable burden within a particular year due to physical inactivity.

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