12 March 2025 - Australia’s peak body for public health has responded to new research published today that forecasts that Australian adults' diets will continue to deteriorate over the next five years, falling well short of Government targets.
The first national study of its kind was conducted by the CSIRO and published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. It used survey responses from over 275,000 Australian adults collected over nine years to track current diets and model future trends.
The authors predict that by 2030:
- Adult fruit intake will drop by almost 10 percent
- Adult discretionary/unhealthy dietary intake (including sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods) will rise by 18 percent
- Vegetable intake will remain stable, but well below government targets
The Public Health Association of Australia says the data demonstrates the urgent need for the next Federal Government to take action on dietary patterns and diet-related conditions, such as obesity.
In the lead-up to the Federal Election, it is calling for all political candidates to commit to comprehensive action, including improving unhealthy food marketing regulation, implementing mandatory Health Star Ratings on packaged foods and funding ongoing public health education campaigns to promote healthy food choices.
Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin, CEO of the Public Health Association of Australia, says that Australians' diets are major contributors to preventable ill-health in the community.
“Poor diets, driven largely by the aggressive promotion of unhealthy foods, are one reason why obesity and overweight have recently overtaken tobacco as our biggest preventable cause of disease burden.
“Australia’s National Preventive Health Strategy sets out ambitious targets that aim to get adults' diets in line with health recommendations. This includes ensuring adults consume two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables every day, while getting no more than 20 percent of their daily energy from unhealthy, discretionary foods.
“This study shows that, without action, we are going to fall woefully short of this target. The next Federal Government has an opportunity to save lives and money by implementing measures that will help all Australians get back on track with healthy diets and weight. The key question during this election campaign is which political parties and candidates are going to step up and commit to real action on obesity?”
Ahead of the Federal Election, the Public Health Association of Australia is calling for all political parties and candidates to respond to seven key asks:
• Establish a permanent Australian Centre for Disease Control
• Invest in prevention to save lives and money
• Act on obesity to help more Australians maintain a healthy weight
• Invest in First Nations people’s health to close the gap
• Protect our health by acting on climate change
• Reform gambling so people lose less
• Introduce universal oral health care through Medicare
More information can be found at https://voteforpublichealth.com/
ENDS
For media enquiries please contact:
Hollie Harwood, Strategic Communications Advisor, Public Health Association of Australia, 0400 762 010 or hharwood@phaa.net.au
“Fruit, vegetables and discretionary food intake in Australian adults: Past trends and predicted progress towards population preventive health targets for 2030” has been published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health here.
Please credit the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health as the source of the research.
The Journal is the official publication of the Public Health Association of Australia.
All articles are open access and can be found here: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/australian-and-new-zealand-journal-of-public-health