Only a small share of Australians are eating enough fruit and vegetables, with dieticians warning the country could be headed for an obesity crisis.
Results from the latest National Health Survey, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday, showed 93.9 per cent of adults did not meet the recommended daily intake for both fruit and vegetables.
Subscribe for FREE to the HealthTimes magazine
People were more likely to eat fruit than vegetables, with 44.8 per cent eating enough fruit, as opposed to 8.7 per cent who ate enough vegetables.
The survey revealed a divide based on gender. While 12.8 per cent of women met the recommended daily intake of vegetables, the share was 4.4 per cent for men.
Similarly, nine per cent of women met both the fruit and vegetable guidelines, compared to 2.9 per cent of men.
The survey drew on responses from around 11,000 households between August 2020 and June 2021.
Dietitians Australian CEO Robert Hunt said in the midst of a fresh food price and supply crisis the government needed to invest in a coordinated approach to nutrition.
"We can only imagine how damning the dietary behaviour data would be if it was sourced in the last few weeks, where most people can barely contemplate forking out $10 or more for a fresh produce staple like lettuce," he said.
"While fresh food was challenging to source during COVID panic buying outbreaks, it was far more affordable than it is now."
Mr Hunt said the country faced a huge bill do deal with obesity-related health costs if diets didn't change.
The recommended intakes used for the survey were taken from the National Health and Medical Research Council's 2013 Australian dietary guidelines..
The ABS noted the survey data was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic via online, self-completed forms and should be considered a "point in time" snapshot of national health.
RECOMMENDED INTAKE PER DAY
Serves of fruit for males
Age 2-3: 1
Age 4-8: 1.5
Age 9 to over 70: 2
Serves of fruit for females
Age 2-3: 1
Age 4-8: 1.5
Age 9 to over 70: 2
Serves of vegetables for males
Age 2-3: 2.5
Age 4-8: 4.5
Age 9-18: 5.5
Age 19-50: 6
Age 51-70: 5.5
Age 70 and over: 5
Serves of vegetables for females
Age 2-3: 2.5
Age 4-8 4.5
Age 9 to over 70: 5
