Evidence suggests Australians need to eat less: red meats (adult males only) food and drinks high in saturated fat, added sugar, added salt, or alcohol (e.g. fried foods, most take-away foods from quick service restaurants, cakes and biscuits, chocolate and confectionery, sweetened drinks).
Australians of all ages generally have a poor diet – that is they do not eat enough of the 5 food groups and eat too many discretionary foods high in salt, fat and sugar. Inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption in particular is a risk factor for CVD, type 2 diabetes, CKD and overweight and obesity.
Poor diet is responsible for 7% of Australia's disease burden. Read about our food and nutrition policies, the laws that keep food safe, and the initiatives, programs and resources that help Australians make healthy food choices.
Limit intake of foods containing saturated fat, added salt, added sugars and alcohol. a. Limit intake of foods high in saturated fat such as many biscuits, cakes, pastries, pies, processed meats, commercial burgers, pizza, fried foods, potato chips, crisps and other savoury snacks.
Australians are eating more whole fruit, a greater diversity of vegetables, more beans, peas and pulses, less refined sugar, and they have increased their preference for brown and wholegrain cereals. Adult Australians have also increased their intake of nuts and seeds.
In daily per capita terms, apparent consumption averaged just over 1.5 kg per day with 1,566 grams per capita in 2020-21, up from 1,547 grams (1.2% increase) in the previous year and an increase of 2.8% compared with 2018-19.
Nearly 65 per cent of Australian adults and 25 per cent of children are overweight or obese, and less than 7 per cent consume a healthy diet.
Smoking is still the single greatest contributor to the disease burden in Australia, responsible for 9.3 per cent of the disease burden in Australia.
About 33% of Australians' energy intake comes from discretionary foods, which are high in energy but low in nutrients. About 81% of males aged 51–70 are overweight or obese – in most cases due to diet. Most girls and women in Australia have a deficiency in iron and calcium intake.
27,500 Australians die a preventable death each year from an unhealthy diet. Many diseases are caused or exacerbated by a poor diet, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, bowel cancer and lung cancer. Food insecurity is also on the rise in Australia. We're at a turning point for the health of our nation.
According to a study published in medical journal The Lancet, obesity rates in Australia are rising faster than anywhere else in the world. Almost two in three adults are now overweight and, alarmingly, by 2020 one-third of Australians over 15 are predicted to be obese.
Australia continues to be one of the world's top meat-eating countries, with an annual consumption of 89.6kg per capita in 2019, up from 88.2kg per capita in 2000.
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 ...
According to the FoodSwitch: State of the Fast Food Supply report, which assessed the healthiness of Australian fast food products in 2019, Red Rooster's Bacon and Cheese Rippa roll "combo" packs the most energy of quick-service chain meals with 7730 kilojoules per serving, or 89 per cent of the recommended average ...
Food Waste in Australia
Australian households account for the majority of food waste (2.46 million tonnes) 70% of the 7.6 million tonnes of food wasted in Australia every year is edible.
Experts believe time constraints and cost are factors why some people are ditching their healthy eating habits. Floods and prolonged wet weather across eastern Australia have seen the cost of some vegetables such as iceberg lettuce skyrocket.
Focuses on the health of Australians by documenting progress towards goals and targets for the five priority areas of cardiovascular health, cancer control, injury prevention and control, mental health, and diabetes mellitus.
Chronic conditions are the leading cause of illness, disability and death in Australia. Common chronic conditions include cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
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)
Sneaky sugars on our plates
Australians, on average, consume about half a kilo of sugar each week – an amount that would surprise most people because much of it is invisible. Large amounts of sugar are smuggled into our diets through sweetened products such as cakes, pies, lollies and sugary drinks.
While meal prices in Australia can vary, the average cost of food in Australia is AU$53 per day. Based on the spending habits of previous travelers, when dining out an average meal in Australia should cost around AU$21 per person. Breakfast prices are usually a little cheaper than lunch or dinner.