• Eloise Howse, Erika Bohn-Goldbaum, Becky Freeman, Adrian Bauman, and Anne C Grunseit.
• The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney School of Public Health, Prevention Research Collaboration, Level 6 Charles Perkins Centre D17, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre, Sax Institute, 30C Wentworth St, Glebe, NSW 2037, Australia. Electronic address: elly.howse@sydney.edu.au.
• Prev Med. 2020 Dec 1; 141: 106289.

ObjectivesUnderstanding public opinion and community attitudes is needed to help the implementation of chronic disease prevention policies that are acceptable to the population. The AUStralian Perceptions Of Prevention Survey ('AUSPOPS') is a national survey designed to provide evidence on the views of Australians regarding government intervention for prevention. However there is limited evidence whether age and gender have modifying effects on attitudes about prevention.MethodsUsing results from the 2018 AUSPOPS dataset, this study examines whether the effect of age on attitudes about prevention is modified by the effect of gender. Survey questions included views about statements for government intervention and whether government had gone far enough for thirteen different preventive interventions.Results2601 Australian residents aged 18 years or older participated in the survey (response rate 16.7%). Results showed strong support for prevention framed as a shared responsibility between governments and individuals. Interventions where >50% of respondents felt the government had not gone far enough in prevention were restricting unhealthy food advertising for children and setting salt limits on processed food. There were significant age by gender interactions in a small number (n = 4) of questions examining support for government intervention for prevention, suggesting young men were least in favour of more action by government.ConclusionsThere is general support in the Australian community for government intervention for prevention. Policymakers could capitalize on this sentiment by prioritizing policies with high levels of support across all groups, and target population subgroups on issues where acceptability appears to be heterogenous.Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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