Is Australia's good health more than skin deep?

	MEDIA RELEASE
31 July 2013	Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra Time)	135/2013

Over half of all Australians aged 15 years and over consider themselves to be in very good or excellent health. But what will the first ABS biomedical collection reveal about Australia's health?

The groundbreaking biomedical component of the Australian Health Survey (AHS) will be released on Monday 5 August. This survey included the first ever collection of a range of blood and urine samples from over 11,000 participants across Australia.

Monday's results will provide the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on Australians':

• Cholesterol levels;
• Diabetes status;
• Chronic kidney disease risk; and
• Liver function levels.

Information on nutrition biomarkers, such as vitamin D, iron and iodine, will be released in late 2013.

Results will be available for download from the ABS website (www.abs.gov.au) from Monday 5 August 2013 at 11.30am (Canberra time).

This release is part of a series of publications from the Australian Health Survey. More information on the survey can be found on the ABS website at www.abs.gov.au/australianhealthsurvey.