The federal government's anti-smoking policy appears to be paying off as a new study showed that Aussies love for cigarette sticks have been declining considerably since 1995, an encouraging trend that is observable in all age brackets.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) said on its Monday report that cigarette smoking, blamed by Canberra for costly health care expenses, among Australians seems to be losing much of its lustre with more and more smokers, young and old alike, quitting the habit over the past decade.

Yet while the tobacco concerns appear to be receding, unhealthy lifestyle remains a grave problem as the AIHW report also revealed that health risk factors continue to haunt many Aussies.

In the past 13 years ending in 2008, obesity dramatically rose along with the typical sedentary lifestyle attached with the health problem, the new report said, noting too that as many as 61 per cent of Aussies were now considered as overweight.

Men outpaced women in the unhealthy class, according to AIHW, with about six out of 10 males classified as obese as against to five out of 10 females as of 2008.

The study also bemoaned the troubling fact that Aussies have the tendency to opt for poor diets, less exercise and consume more alcohol drinks.

As a direct result, more tend to suffer serious health conditions such as heart ailment, diabetes and chronic kidney disease, AIHW spokeswoman Lynelle Moon told the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

Dr Moon faulted adult and young Australians for neglecting physical exercises that would have made their bodies sturdier and likely repeal the onslaught of medical issues.

She also lamented that many were skipping the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables but would not pass off drinking alcoholic beverages in almost routine fashion, exposing them further to health risk factors.

And fighting off medical problems is relatively easy, according to Australia's National Preventive Health Agency (NPHA), with almost everyone capable of bolstering their ability to prevent the onset of debilitating health conditions.

"Everybody knows what to do, it's really a case of getting it embedded into daily activity," NPHA chief executive Louise Sylvan told News Ltd on Tuesday.

Routine exercises should be integrated in the daily activities of young and adults, with the former needing at least 60 minutes of physical exertions while the latter half of that, Ms Sylvan said.

Also, efforts to cut down on the bulge, according to NPHA, must be solely governed by healthy and balance diet, with the aim of maintaining "your weight using good nutrition."