2012 Major Report

This report uses data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) to assess adherence to national guidelines for preventive health behaviours and selected health screening.

This report uses data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) to assess women’s adherence to national guidelines. It covers lifestyle risk factors of smoking, overweight and obesity, waist circumference, alcohol use, nutrition and physical activity. For women in the 1973-78 cohort, the report also presents information on women’s adherence to specific guidelines around pregnancy and breastfeeding. The report also considers adherence with recommended scheduling of preventive screening procedures including Pap tests for cervical cancer, mammograms for breast cancer, blood pressure measurement and blood cholesterol tests for cardiovascular disease.

The guidelines used for this report are those disseminated by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and/or the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, based on the best available evidence at the time.