Our quarterly magazine, Health Journey, contains interesting and up to date articles on health issues that impact Queensland women of all ages. You can read Health Journey online for free. Browse through the issues below.
A quarter of all Australian adults are obese and nearly two-thirds of us are overweight. The latest evidence shows that more and more often, we are replacing healthy foods with those that are high in energy but have little nutritional value. If current trends continue, it is estimated that by 2025 three-quarters of Australian women aged 20 years and older will be overweight or obese.
During the past 15 years, a lifestyle-disease epidemic has been sweeping across Australia. The number of people with chronic illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and asthma is rising at an alarming rate. What is most concerning about this is that in many cases, these diseases could be avoided if we made healthier lifestyle choices on a day-to-day basis.
As we progress through life, our physical and mental health needs change.
While many of us see the value in safeguarding our physical wellbeing – and take steps to maintain a healthy weight, have regular health and skin check-ups, keep an eye on our blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and deal with illness or injury.
Two hundred women die of heart disease in Australia every week. That works out to be about 10,400 women each year and makes heart disease the leading cause of death for Australian women. Interestingly, only about one-third of us know this, despite the fact that nine in ten of us have at least one risk factor for the disease.
This first edition of Health Journey for 2012 focuses on nutrition and healthy eating. Often by this time of year our New Year's resolutions to eat better and exercise more have gone astray. We hope the articles on Japanese food, reading food labels and wholegrains help people to get back on track.