CSIRO report finds Australians are failing to balance their diets

From the market to the plate and a study of Australia’s eating habits shows the nation is failing when it comes to embracing a balanced diet.

Transcript

00:00 The CSIRO has today released a new report showing that unfortunately Australians are

00:06 failing to maintain a balanced diet.

00:09 Their online healthy diet score survey interviewed about 235,000 Australians between 2015 and

00:17 this year and they found that on average Australians reached a score of 55 which is well below

00:24 what's considered a balanced diet.

00:27 The CSIRO says that the score people should be aiming for is around 70.

00:33 On this online survey which is available now on the website for Australians to do, they

00:37 ask questions to do with how often you're eating certain food categories like starches,

00:43 vegetables, carbohydrates and fruits and how much of that you're eating.

00:48 Earlier this morning we spoke to a few people about whether they thought their diet was

00:52 balanced and what they thought of these results.

00:56 It's cheaper to eat unhealthy than it is to eat healthier.

01:00 So I guess it's easier to eat unhealthy than it is to be healthy I guess.

01:05 Everything's so expensive and cheaper options are available which obviously aren't good

01:09 for you.

01:10 We have healthy eating habits but we also eat poorly as well.

01:17 Like a lot.

01:18 You'd snack throughout the day so you'd have a nice meal, healthy meal and then an hour

01:23 later you'd have pancakes or something that's not that healthy.

01:28 The report found that on average Australians are eating about 28 serves of junk food every

01:33 week and much of that has to do with eating things like sweets and takeaway food and alcohol.

01:40 They also found that people who worked in the fitness industry and retired Australians

01:45 scored the best on this test while people in the construction industry had the poorest

01:51 diets.

01:52 They also found that less than half of Australian adults are eating the recommended intake of

01:56 vegetables which is three different vegetables with a main meal.

02:00 The CSIRO says this is a timely reminder to Australians to think about their eating habits

02:06 and consider how to balance their diet better.

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