title: The Western Sydney Health Study: results of the shopping-centre survey.
abstract: The Western Sydney Health Study is a two-phase descriptive study that is designed to provide data on the health-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of persons in the Western Metropolitan health region, which has higher-than-average death rates of many disorders that are associated with life-style. In the first phase of the study, 2164 respondents were interviewed in six shopping centres in the region. The prevalence rates of self-reported cardiovascular disease and diabetes were about twice those that were found in the Australia-wide National Heart Foundation Risk Factor Prevalence Study in 1983. The prevalence rates of smoking and self-reported raised blood lipid levels were also high. Doctors and nurses were the main sources of health information, and the media was less important as a source of health information than was found in the Better Health Commission's national survey in 1985. Over 80% of respondents believed that a lowering of the dietary fat intake and an increase in exercise were health-enhancing behaviours. Given this high level of health knowledge, the major aims for health promotion in the region should be a social change to facilitate choices towards healthy behaviour and the provision of skills to enable individual behavioural changes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Westmead Hospital, NSW.
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Cumming
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Fahey
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Leeder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales; D012307:Risk Factors