Construction and beauty industry workers are Australia’s worst eaters, says CSIRO Healthy Diet Score report
A survey of almost a quarter of a million Australians has found beauticians and construction workers have the worst diets of any other profession.
The CSIRO study looked at the eating habits of Australians between 2015 and 2023, revealing that workers in both sectors consumed the most junk food on average.
The average Australian consumes around 28 portions of unhealthy food per week, including takeaways, chocolate, cakes and alcohol. But beauticians and construction workers consume about 45 servings.
In contrast, retired Australians and those working in the fitness industry reported some of the healthiest eating habits.
Results are judged by a diet score from 0 to 100, with 100 being healthiest and 0 being dangerously unhealthy.
A survey of almost a quarter of a million Australians found beauticians and construction workers have the worst diets of all other professions (stock image)
The average Australian consumes around 28 portions of unhealthy food per week, including takeaways, chocolate, cakes and alcohol. But beauticians and construction workers consume about 45 servings (stock image)
The study’s main verdict is that Australians are failing to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and junk food is one of the main causes.
“Discretionary food” or junk food was the main source of this drop, ranking as the lowest food quality area across all ages and genders, scoring 20 out of 100 against the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
The main contributors to the pitiful score were alcohol, cakes and biscuits, chocolate and confectionery, and takeaways, according to the CSIRO Healthy Diet Score report.
Only four in ten adults ate three or more different vegetables with their main meal, although women ate significantly more vegetables than men, the report found.
Women also had slightly better overall dietary quality than men.
The average score of 55 is a stark reminder that Australians need to do more to improve their eating habits and reduce their waistlines, said Gilly Hendrie, a CSIRO researcher and co-author of the report.
“Improving our collective score is important to increasing our wellbeing, tackling Australia’s obesity crisis and mitigating lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers,” he said. said Dr. Hendrie.
“It’s clear we have a long way to go.”
Dr Hendrie urged Australians to reduce the amount of junk food they eat, increase the amount of healthy foods they eat and eat at least three different types of vegetables with their main meal.
The study’s main verdict is that Australians are failing to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and junk food is one of the main causes.
Simple changes would put Australians on the path to a better food quality score, she suggested.
Australians achieved their highest food quality score in drinks with 93 out of 100, with most choosing to drink water rather than energy-rich drinks.
They also largely met the dietary guidelines when it came to meats and alternatives, achieving a collective score of 78 out of 100.
The Healthy Diet Score report, released Tuesday, was based on an online survey of more than 235,000 adults between 2015 and 2023.
