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Skin cancer the major health concern for Aussies
Nearly four in five have made or plan to make lifestyle changes to avoid major health issues
Women more concerned with their health than men
2 August 2007
Australia
More than one in ten internet users in Australia suffers from respiratory disease such as asthma and bronchitis (12%) and high cholesterol (11%), making them the two main illnesses affecting Australians, according to ACNielsen, a unit of The Nielsen Company, the world’s leading marketing and media information company.
In a recently released Global Consumer Report on health concerns, ACNielsen surveyed 25,408 internet users in 46 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and the Middle East, including 500 consumers in Australia, about their attitudes to and concerns with disease and health issues.
"We know that factors such as increasing air pollution have been attributed to an increase in respiratory disease in Australia in recent years,” says Katherine Doric, Associate Director, Pharmacy, The Nielsen Company. “However, it was of great concern to note that the number of Australians suffering from a respiratory disease was one of the highest across the 46 countries we surveyed, being four percent above the global average and second only to Thailand.”
But while respiratory disease and high cholesterol were the main illnesses affecting Australians, it was skin cancer and heart disease which were the main causes for concern. More than one in four respondents (28%) said they were concerned with being diagnosed with skin cancer and 26 percent said they feared contracting heart disease. This compared to just 12 percent of respondents who said they were concerned with contracting a respiratory disease and 16 percent who said they were concerned with their cholesterol levels.
Overall, women were more concerned about their health than men. More than one in five women (22%) cited concern for one or more diseases compared to 17 percent of men. The main health concerns for women were being diagnosed with breast cancer (34%) or skin cancer (30%). Men’s main health concern was heart disease with 25 percent saying it was a worry for them, and 26 percent said they worried about skin cancer.
In addressing their health concerns the majority of online consumers (79%) said they had made or planned to make lifestyle changes to avoid their main health concerns. Men were only slightly less likely than women to adapt their lifestyle for their health (78% compared to 80% respectively).
“It’s certainly encouraging to see the number of people who are conscious of the need to adapt their lifestyle to stay fit and healthy,” Doric notes. “Growing awareness of the affects of poor diet, lack of exercise and other lifestyle choices is obviously making an impact on the way people choose to live their lives.”
Around the world heart disease was the main health concern for online consumers with 37 percent saying they were concerned with the health of their heart. This was followed by lung cancer (35%) and Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia (32%). The main illnesses affecting global online consumers were high cholesterol (12%), respiratory disease (8%) and diabetes (5%).
Nearly four in five global online consumers (79%) said they had made lifestyle changes or planned to make lifestyle changes in order to avoid their main health concerns.
46 Markets Covered: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czechs Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Thailand, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, US and Vietnam.
About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognised brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek), trade shows and the newspaper sector (Scarborough Research). The privately held company has more than 42,000 employees and is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.
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