More than 80 per cent of Victorians have at least one long-term health condition, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics which has released the state and territory findings for its 2022 National Health Survey.
In Victoria, 3.2 million people had at least one chronic condition in 2022, with the top five most prevalent chronic conditions being mental and behavioural conditions, back problems, arthritis, asthma and diabetes.
The data indicated that those ageing were more likely to have at least one chronic condition, with eight in 10 Victorians aged 65 years and older having at least one chronic condition.
In was found 887,100 Victorians had arthritis in 2022, while 845,300 had asthma, 330,500 had diabetes, with prevalence being similar for males and females at 5.2 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively.
Prevalence of diabetes increased with age. One in seven adults aged 65 years and older had diabetes, more than any other age group.
Just 1.3 million, or 24.5 per cent of people aged 15 years and older in Victoria, met the physical activity guidelines in 2022. This has increased from 16.8 per cent in 2017–18.
Alarmingly, 4.9 million adults in Victoria did not meet the fruit and vegetable recommendations.
More than half did not meet the fruit recommendation and nine in ten did not meet the vegetable recommendations.
Females were more likely to meet both the fruit and vegetable recommendations than males.
The study was conducted from January 2022 to April 2023, with data collected from approximately 13,100 households around Australia, including 1804 in Victoria.
