Around one-fifth of the Orange City population are heavy drinks and/or smokers according health data released last week.
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The data from the Mitchell Institute has revealed 19.2 per cent of people who live in Orange drink at 'risky' levels. This is people over 15 years-old who have reported average alcohol consumption of more than two standard drinks per day over the past year.
Similarly, 18.2 per cent of the population is a self-reported smoker. This is people who are over 14 years-old and at the time of interview said they were a current, daily or at least once-a-week.
Despite these alarming statistics, Orange has the lowest rate of heavy drinking among the Central Western cities.
Dubbo has the highest rate of heavy drinking at 21.2 per cent at 21.2 per cent and Bathurst has a drinking rate of 20.7 per cent.
As far as smoking goes, Dubbo has a higher level of smoking at 19.3 per cent and Bathurst is lower at 18 per cent of people smoking. Interestingly, towns like Lithgow and Mudgee have much higher smoking rates, 24.1 per cent and 24.2 per cent retrospectively.
The Mitchell Institute at the Victorian University reported 18.2 per cent of Australians are deemed 'heavy' drinker. The 2025 target is 16.1 per cent.
The same data reports 16.1 per cent of the population are smokers, the 2025 target is five per cent.
The Cancer Council have deemed smoking as the biggest preventable cause of cancer, accounting for 13 per cent of cancer cases per year.
The National Health and Medical Research Council recommends no more than two standard drinks a day and to avoid binge drinking. It is advised to have two-alcohol free days every week and to choose low-alcohol drink.
The Cancer Council advises people that the combined effects of smoking and alcohol greatly increase the risk of cancer. Up to 75 per cent of caners of the upper airway and digestive tract can be related to alcohol and smoking.
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