To stay healthy, you should drink plenty of water and eat a wide variety of nutritious foods from the 5 food groups every day. This includes: vegetables and legumes or beans – at least 5 serves a day. grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and high-fibre varieties – 4 to 6 serves a day.
Previous results2 from the 2011-12 NNPAS showed Australians derived an estimated 12.4% of their dietary energy from saturated and trans-fats, exceeding the 10% limit recommended to reduce chronic disease risk.
Based on self-reported data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2017–18 National Health Survey (NHS), 1 in 2 people aged 18 and over (49%) did not eat the recommended 2 serves of fruit, while over 9 in 10 (92%) did not eat the recommended 5–6 serves of vegetables (ABS 2018).
For example, about 23% of all Australians have Vitamin D deficiencies, and one in every five (18.3%) women of childbearing age have an iodine deficiency.
According to government data, young people aged between 18-24 and families with young children are the biggest wasters of food.
The rise in obesity has been attributed to poor eating habits in the country closely related to the availability of fast food since the 1970s, sedentary lifestyles and a decrease in the labour workforce.
Australia is among the top meat-consuming nations of the world - eating on average almost 108kg of meat annually per person.
Belgium, where people eat 95 grams of fat each day on average, holds the distinction of being the world's most fat-crazed country. Germany, where people eat 86.5 grams of fat each day on average, is second. Finland, where people eat just shy of 81 grams, is third.
Australian Eating Habits
Australians tend to eat three meals a day: Breakfast – eaten in the morning is either light and cold (cereal, toast, coffee) or heavy and hot (bacon, eggs, sausages, fried tomato) Lunch – eaten around 12 – 2 pm is usually a light meal such as a sandwich, or salad.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, most Australians have a poor diet. The Australian dietary guidelines recommend a variety of foods including plenty of vegetables as well as fruit, grains, lean meat, and other protein, and low-fat dairy.
Dairy is widely eaten, with 85% of people having dairy products of some form, and milk consumed twice as often as cheese. We love our meat and poultry, and it is regularly eaten by 7 out of 10 people. Ham was the most commonly consumed processed meat, eaten by 12% of the population.
Most Australians are missing out on the health benefits of consuming milk, yoghurt and cheese as they don't include enough in their diet. Consumption of three to four daily serves of dairy foods, such as milk, yoghurt and cheese as part of a balanced diet is not linked to weight gain.
Most Australians eat only about half the recommended quantity of fruit. However many of us drink far too much fruit juice. Fruit juices can be high in energy (kilojoules) and low in dietary fibre, and can even damage your teeth. Whole fruits are a much better choice, and are more filling.
Roast lamb has been declared Australia's national dish in a major poll that shows we're still a country of meat eaters at heart.
Australians love their red meat and poultry but seafood is fast catching up in terms of popularity and has always been an important part of Australian culture and diet. About 334 kt of seafood was consumed in Australia in 2019-2020, which equated to about 12.4 kg per person.
There is no denying that seafood plays a huge part in Australian eating culture. Whether it's peeling prawns around the Christmas table, slurping back oysters at a restaurant, or just cooking up a fresh fish fillet for dinner, we love our seafood.
According to the Monash study, Australia's proximity to the equator, the high sun exposure and generally clear atmospheric conditions mean that people living here can experience higher levels of UV exposure and longer wavelength radiation than those in Europe and North America.
Approximately 40% of the population (aged 14 years and over) drink alcohol at least once per week, including 5% of the population who drink daily. Twenty-three percent of Australians do not drink alcohol at all.
More than two-thirds of Australian adults are classed as overweight or obese and that figure is projected to increase in coming years.
With recent findings by the CSIRO's Healthy Diet Score survey confirming that nearly 80% of Australians are consuming junk food on a daily basis, a new online tool developed by the Australian Government scientific research hopes "to provide the community with a greater understanding of their discretionary food intake ...
Despite our reputation as the “lucky country”, the issue of hunger exists in Australia but is largely unnoticed. The reality is that 3.6 million Australians (15%) have experienced food insecurity at least once in the last 12 months. Three in five of these individuals experience food insecurity at least once a month.