Recently published research from the University of Sydney has shown that Australian families are spending about twice as much on ’screen entertainment’ (mainly TVs and computers) as they are on active recreation such as sports fees, gym memberships and costs associated with physical activity.

It was concluded that 3.3% of family income was spent on screen entertainment while only 1.5% was spent on physical activity.
While this isn’t surprising given the continuing increase incidence of obesity, it is still an alarming fact and raises further concerns for children who are becoming less active and have parents who are placing a low priority on physical activity.

The research suggested that lower income families found the cost of physically active recreation limiting and thus participation in physical activity was lower in lower income, and less educated families. This then brings up the question of the cost of participating in physical activity? And the fact is, it doesn’t have to cost that much at all, especially for adults who can easily get out for walks, rides and active family activities. Gym memberships are not an essential component of being physically active. However, sport for children is recommended given that sport can assist children to develop in many ways in addition to simply the physical activity involved.Thus, sporting fees can be an ongoing family cost.
In summary, this is more research highlighting the decrease in Australia’s physical activity levels. However, this research also brings in the question of the importance of family lifestyle in shaping the long term health and fitness of children.

Mental health issues, including depression, in Australia are continuing to increase. It can affect older and younger individuals alike, as well as men and women. If you are an employee of an organisation, you would know that work can sometimes be stressful, demanding and employers can require unreasonable work demands. But how do depression and job stress  relate to each other?

A recent study at the University of Melbourne has shown that approximately 1 in 6 cases of depression among working Victorians was caused by job related stress. Women are more likely to be affected than men, and alarmingly, low-skilled workers are twice as likely to be affected as those working in higher-skilled professions.

Previous research has shown that job stress doubles the risk of depression. Job stress is considered to be a combination of high job demands and minimal control over how tasks get done.

The challenge is obviously to reduce stress in the workplace. Not only is it a mental and physical health risk, but it also results in less productive employees. However, this is easier said than done. Reducing job stress involves a combination of management changes, organisational changes, human resource changes and changes in an individual employees lifestyle (ie. increased exercise and physical health).