According to a new study by Australia’s Science Agency, we’re still not eating enough vegetables but drinking too much.
The CSIRO Healthy Diet Score Report, released Tuesday, represents the culmination of eight years of surveying Australian dietary habits. It assessed nine areas for diet quality and compliance with Australian Dietary Guidelines.
Results show that we had an average diet score of 55 points out of 100 during this period, down from 56 last year to 53 this.
Eating three or more vegetables at a meal is a key indicator of health, but only 35% of Australians do this regularly.
This is down from 47 percent in 2016.
Gilly Hendrie, co-author of the report and a research scientist, says that the low score collectively shows that we barely meet the passing mark when it comes to adopting national dietary guidelines.
Dr Hendrie stated that the score was a stark reminder to work on improving our eating habits to reduce the national waistline.
Alcohol, cakes, biscuits, confectionery, and chocolate dominated the discretionary food category. Men consumed about ten servings more per week than women. Younger adults consumed about five servings more per week than older adults.
Dr Hendrie stated that “the good news is you can achieve a healthy diet with some simple adjustments.”
Reduce, increase, and add variety.
Eat three different vegetables as part of your main meal.
Australians scored 93 out of 100 for beverages. This is largely due to the fact that they chose water over drinks with high energy content, such as soft drinks or juice.
We scored 78 points out of 100 for meats and alternative foods. Vegetables were 58.
The average score for those in the fitness and retired Australians was 59.
Construction and beauty/fashion workers reported the highest food consumption, with 45 servings per week.
The report showed that while women had slightly higher diet quality than men (56% vs. 53% out of 100), they consumed significantly more vegetables (62% vs. 54%).
