Australians’ diets are worse than first thought, scoring only 59 out of 100 in the largest ever survey of its kind.

The 2016 CSIRO Healthy Diet Score canvassed the dietary habits of more than 86,500 adults across the country over a 12-month period, surveying more than double the amount of people as last year, when the nation scored 61 points.

“We have an image of being fit and healthy, but with a collective diet score of 59 out of 100, that image could be very different unless we act now,” CSIRO research director Manny Noakes said.

On the range of measures surveyed, Australians scored best on fruit consumption, with 49% meeting the recommended intake.

Of greatest concern was consumption of junk foods.

Just 1% of respondents ate none, while more than one in three reported eating more than the recommended maximum allowance.

“We find that there is often a tendency to underreport on certain types of food, so in all likelihood that figure is even higher,” Noakes said.

Women had better nutritional levels than men, scoring 60 out of 100 versus 56, and one in three adults actively avoid at least one of gluten, dairy or meat.

Construction workers are among those with the poorest diets, while public servants, real estate agents and health industry workers reported some of the healthiest eating patterns.

Noakes urged Australians to “halve the bad and double the good”.

“In other words, halve the amount of discretionary food you eat and double your vegetable intake,” she said.

“If we can raise our collective score by just over 10 points, we help Australia mitigate against the growing rates of obesity and lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and a third of all cancers.”

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/sep/26/australians-diet-worse-than-thought-csiro-report-finds

I think a modest diet is quite alright, it’s other things that are more of a concern re fitness/health.

but then what is modest of the modern world, it’s a bit unfashionable. The modest imposition, on an individuals time or whatever.

if the frenzied compression of content on tv’s any indication.

So called “junk foods” aren’t junk.
What is junk is “empty calories”.

My vegan relative is looking dangerously thin.

Exercise is underplayed all too often but again I walk around any supermarket trying to assess what is actually useful nutritional food in the place and find them wanting. It seems that the vast bulk of any supermarket is rubbish not food.

Same with service stations. Where are the overflowing bowls of fruit at the servo?

mollwollfumble said:

So called “junk foods” aren’t junk.
What is junk is “empty calories”.

My vegan relative is looking dangerously thin.

I agree.

Although I think the CSIRO reference diet is a good one, you can’t tell whether someone has a good diet or a poor one by looking at whether 1% or 5% of it is “junk food”.

mollwollfumble said:

So called “junk foods” aren’t junk.
What is junk is “empty calories”.

My vegan relative is looking dangerously thin.

Are you calling my Whiskey junk eh?

poikilotherm said:

mollwollfumble said:

So called “junk foods” aren’t junk.
What is junk is “empty calories”.

My vegan relative is looking dangerously thin.

Are you calling my Whiskey junk eh?

pffft… Whiskey has the same calories per 100 g as a Big Mac

diddly-squat said:

poikilotherm said:

mollwollfumble said:

So called “junk foods” aren’t junk.
What is junk is “empty calories”.

My vegan relative is looking dangerously thin.

Are you calling my Whiskey junk eh?

pffft… Whiskey has the same calories per 100 g as a Big Mac

On the other hand, a Big Mac is packed with useful nutrition. 25 grams of protein, 30% of your daily iron needs, 28% of your ZINC needs, 25% of your daily calcium needs, 37% of your niacin needs, 27% of riboflavin needs, 26% of your thiamin needs, 32% of your B12 needs, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, copper, magnesium.

poikilotherm said:

mollwollfumble said:

So called “junk foods” aren’t junk.
What is junk is “empty calories”.

My vegan relative is looking dangerously thin.

Are you calling my Whiskey junk eh?

Depends. Does it contain either live or dead yeast? If not, yep.