Australian women's health highlighted in survey
1 February 2001
The results of what is being called one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys on women’s health ever undertaken by a magazine has been released, with 17,000 women providing information on everything from diet to depression.
The Australian Women’s Weekly’s ‘Voice of Australian Women’ survey revealed that many women believed they were suffering from weight problems, high levels of stress and depression, with nearly 9 per cent of those surveyed claiming that they had been depressed enough to have attempted suicide.
Body image appeared to be a major area of concern, with 70 per cent of those surveyed believing they were overweight and 26 per cent admitting to some form of disordered eating such as yo-yo dieting or anorexia.
At least one-third never, or hardly ever, conducted a breast self-examination for abnormalities, with more than half of those saying they ‘just forgot’. However, nearly 75 per cent of those surveyed said they had a cervical Pap smear at least every 2 years.
Nearly 67 per cent said that they worried about not being able to look after themselves as they grew older, with about 55 per cent concerned about losing mobility as they aged.
Australian Medical Association President Dr Kerryn Phelps was quoted in the article as saying that a particularly worrying finding was that one-fifth of women aged 15-24 years consumed 6-10 glasses of alcohol at a time to get drunk. Nearly 30 per cent of the women surveyed had driven a car after having had too much to drink.
The mental health of Australian women was also examined, with more than half of those surveyed believing that they had been, or were, depressed. More than 40 per cent of those cited problems with relationships as being the main reason for depression, with loneliness being the second most common cause of depression.
However, the survey also showed that women were looking for more information on health topics, with approximately half targeting diet and exercise and cancer prevention as the main subjects of interest.
Last Reviewed: 01 February 2001
- 1. Australian Women's Weekly, February 2001: 105-112.
