Research themes and projects at the Centre for Womens Health, Gender and Society
Project title
Environmental predictors of biomarkers of cardiovascular disease and diabetes
Major research theme
Investigators
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Professor Anne Kavanagh, Director, Centre for Womens Health, Gender and Society, Melbourne School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne
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Professor Neville Owen, Cancer Prevention Research Centre, University of Queensland
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Associate Professor David Dunstan, International Diabetes Institute
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Associate Professor Damien Jolley, Monash Institute of Health Services, Monash University
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Dr Rebecca J Bentley, Research Fellow, Centre for Womens Health, Gender and Society
Project Manager
- Ms Lauren Krnjacki, Research Fellow, Centre for Womens Health, Gender and Society, Melbourne School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne
Funding
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National Heart Foundation (NHF) Grant-in-aid, 2008-2009 $124,151
Summary
In Australia, coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes account for 22%, 9% and 8% of all deaths respectively. Interventions to reduce risk of these conditions have consisted primarily of individually-based health promotion and health education programs and preventive primary care strategies. However, there is considerable variation between areas in Australia in the rates of these diseases and it is likely that differences in the distribution of area-level characteristics (e.g., density of fast food outlets; availability of opportunities for walking) contribute to the area-level variation.
We use data collected at baseline (1999/2000) and at the five-year follow-up from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab) and routinely collected Geographical Information System (GIS) data, to test whether the walkability attributes of adults’ local neighbourhoods are associated with changes in biomarkers of CVD and diabetes. In addition, we examine whether levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour explain associations between the environmental characteristics and changes in biomarkers. This will provide the first Australian evidence of linkages between local area features and possible future CVD and diabetes and as such will be of enormous resource for policy-makers, urban planners, health promotion practitioners as well as other researchers planning future research in this field.