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Southern Cross has partnered with TVOne to deliver the nation's biggest health test - with nearly a million Kiwis tuning in to the 3 hour television special Test The Nation – The Southern Cross Health Test.
Thousands more have continued to take a cut-down version of the test online to assess their risk of heart attack and stroke. The point of the test was to get people thinking about their health, and identify ways they can address potential lifestyle risks like raised blood pressure and cholesterol.
The on-the-night results from the health test revealed some interesting health issues for New Zealanders.
In total over 980,000 viewers watched the programme in 2006. The online participants’ results showed nearly 45% underestimated the beneficial impact changing their lifestyle would have on the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Southern Cross Group Chief Executive, Dr Ian McPherson, says the results are a case of "can do better".
"However, the picture isn’t all bad news. Once people recognise that working on your lifestyle factors can reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke by 75%, there’s a real opportunity for Kiwis to improve their health, reduce their risk, and get straight A's."
The online test, a large snapshot of New Zealanders' health, has highlighted some worrying gaps in New Zealanders’ knowledge about cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and stroke) which is the single biggest killer of New Zealanders.
"In some of the results we’re seeing New Zealanders’ theoretical knowledge is not too bad, but we are not so good at putting it into practical action that can change lives for the better," says Dr McPherson.
For example, while 67% of participants understood excess salt in the diet contributed to high blood pressure – one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease - 40% of them sometimes or usually add salt to their meals at the table.
Another 87% could make a direct link between exercise and its all-round benefits for the heart, bones and brain, but less than half (49%) exercised the recommended three hours or more a week.
The test also highlighted that the benefits of "snackercise", where people accumulate their recommended exercise time in 10 minutes bursts over the day, are not well understood, with 29% believing exercise had to be continuous for 20-30 minutes to benefit the heart.
To help Kiwis address cardiovascular disease risk areas like cholesterol, blood pressure, lack of exercise and poor diet, Southern Cross has set up a library of Better Health Guides in our new Southern Cross Health Test section. The Guides provide plain-English, practical advice about how to reduce your cardiovascular disease risk.
Gender differences were an interesting outcome of the on-the-night test results. Of the online participants, men had an average risk score of 24 while women on average scored less than half that at 11. A risk score of 24 indicates the risk of cardiovascular event in the next five years is between 1.75% and 2.5%, while a score of 11 indicates the risk is less than 1.25%.
Dr McPherson said the apparently low average risk of online participants could be attributable more to their average age than low-risk lifestyles. Cardiovascular disease risk increases significantly with age.
"We hope the Southern Cross Health Test has not only made people aware of their personal risk, but also given them the knowledge to improve it," Dr McPherson says.
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