Public Health Services today released the results of the 2022 Tasmanian Population Health Survey (TPHS).
More than 4000 Tasmanians took part in the latest TPHS, with the results showing a mixed picture of the health and wellbeing of our community since the last survey in 2019.
Standard questions have been asked since 2009, and the 2022 TPHS also included new questions about mental health, wellbeing, social connectedness, e-cigarettes, discretionary foods, and access to general practitioners and dental services. These topics were added following consultation with stakeholders about emerging issues, data needs, and data gaps.
Director of Public Health, Dr Mark Veitch said the survey provided valuable findings to inform planning of services and programs to improve health and wellbeing in the community.
“The information collected through the survey helps to assess the health of Tasmanians over time and to understand emerging health issues,” said Dr Veitch.
“These results show that more Tasmanians are now incorporating physical activity into their every-day life by walking, running, or bike riding, to get to and from destinations. Active transport has increased significantly, from 34 percent in 2019 to 54 percent in 2022.
“It is also pleasing to note that most Tasmanians rate their overall mental health, physical health and their life satisfaction as high or very high.”
In the most recent survey, using wood heaters as a main home heating source decreased from 30 per cent in 2019 to 23 per cent in 2022. Smoke pollution from wood heaters can cause existing health conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease to worsen. Long term exposure to wood heater smoke can also contribute to heart and lung diseases, diabetes and stroke.
"However, the survey outlines areas which continue to be of concern such as smoking, fruit and vegetable consumption, food insecurity and obesity, and other emerging areas, such as vaping,” said Dr Veitch.
The number of people who currently smoke has increased to 15 percent, up from 12 percent in 2019. In 2009, 20 percent of the adult population were ‘current smokers’.
“This is the first year we have seen an increase in smoking rates since the first survey in 2009. The largest increase was among those aged 35 to 44 years – from 15 percent in 2019 to 22 percent in 2022.”
New questions about e-cigarettes (vapes) were included in the most recent survey. Four percent of Tasmanians regularly use e-cigarettes.
“The survey found that compared with 2019 results, similar proportions of people reported that their Body Mass Index was in the obese range (28 percent in 2019, 29 percent in 2022), and overweight range (30 percent in 2019, 34 percent in 2022).
Only 6 percent of the population reported meeting the recommended vegetable intake guidelines, similar to in 2019. A third of Tasmanians reported meeting fruit intake guidelines, fewer than 46 per cent in 2019,” said Dr Veitch.
“It is particularly concerning that one in ten Tasmanians reported experiencing severe food insecurity, where they ran out of food and were unable to purchase more, at least once in the previous 12 months.” Of those affected by severe food insecurity, one in ten reported that this occurred weekly.
Health Minister Guy Barnett said he recognises the need, as this survey shows, to continue working to improve the health and wellbeing of Tasmanians.
“Our Healthy Tasmania Five-Year Strategic Plan was launched last year aiming to bring together communities, services and all levels of government to work in partnership and enable Tasmanians to live their best lives for as long as possible.
“A key part of the plan is our Healthy Tasmania Grants which are supporting local organisations to help Tasmanians to be more connected in their communities, have positive mental health and wellbeing, limit harmful alcohol use, be smoke free, eat well and live more active lives.”
“We are committed to preventing the uptake of smoking by young people and to supporting people to quit smoking. Our strategic actions in this are area guided by the Tasmanian Tobacco Action Plan 2022-2026 which outlines approaches such as promotion of supports for smoking cessation, ongoing education, and continued regulation of smoking products, including e-cigarettes.”
To view the full report and key finding document, visit: www.health.tas.gov.au/publications/2022-tasmanian-population-health-survey
Additional details:
The sample structure and size of the TPHS 2022 was designed to be sufficient for analyses across the state, by Local Government Area, among different age-groups, and by some further broad categorisations. The TPHS does not include questions to enabled detailed identification or analysis of priority populations