Tara Murray
Hume residents are among the most inactive in the state, according to new data released by the Heart Foundation.
The Australian Heart Maps data looked at the heart health of communities across Australia, examining a number of categories including heart-related hospital admissions, coronary heart disease mortality and prevalence of risk factors.
Hume rated poorly in all of the categories.
The rate of heart-related hospital admissions in Hume between 2012 and 2018 was 49.8 per 10,000 people, higher than the state average of 41.2 per 10, 000 and national average of 43.5 per 10,000 people.
Hume recorded the second-highest heart disease mortality rate in metro Melbourne of 74 incidences per 100,000 between 2013 and 2017.
Maribyrnong had the highest rate in Melbourne at 85 per 100,000. The state average was 61.5 per 100,000 people and the national average was 65.5.
The report also looked at four different risk factors that could contribute to poor heart health: smoking, high blood pressure, obesity and physical inactivity.
The figures from the National Health Survey reveal 23 per cent of Hume residents have high blood pressure, which is not significantly different from the national average (22 per cent).
However, the rate of physical inactivity in Hume is 75 per cent – significantly higher than the national average of 66 per cent. Only Dandenong and Brimbank had a higher rate of inactivity in Victoria.
Eighteen per cent of Hume residents smoke, compared to a national average of 15 per cent, while 37 per cent of Hume residents are considered to be obese, higher than the national average of 31 per cent.
In Whittlesea, 22 per cent of residents have high blood pressure, 72 per cent are physically inactive, 16 per cent smoke and 36 per cent are classfied as obese.
Whittlesea’s coronary heart disease mortality is below both the state and national average at 55.8 per 100,000.
Hospital admissions for heart-related issues among Whittlesea residents was 49.5 per 10,000.
Heart Foundation Victorian chief executive Kellie-Ann Jolly said there was a real divide across Victoria.
“What these alarming figures tell us is that social and economic disadvantage matter for your heart,” Ms Jolly said.
“Victorians who live in the state’s most disadvantaged areas are more likely to have significant risk factors, be hospitalised for heart attack or die from coronary heart disease.”
