Published 26 Jun, 2024

A healthy diet helps to protect against noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.1

In Australia, in 2018, all dietary risks combined contributed an estimated 5.4% DALY (Disability-adjusted life years) of burden of disease, 50.5% of the coronary heart disease burden, 26.3% of the bowel cancer burden, and 26.0% of the type 2 diabetes burden. Dietary risks were linked to 16 diseases of which bowel, lung, oesophageal and breast cancer were in the top 10.

Diet low in vegetable was the 7th leading dietary risk, contributing to 0.6% DALY of the total disease burden.2 A diet low in vegetable contributed an estimated 7.7% of the oesophageal cancer burden.2-3  

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG) have recommended a minimum number of serves of fruit and vegetables each day, depending on a person's age and sex, to ensure good nutrition and health.4

Charts

There is evidence that fruit and vegetables, and other foods containing dietary fibre, provide a protective effect against some cancers, such as colorectal (bowel) cancers.6 Australia has one of the highest rates of colorectal cancer in the world, with this cancer estimated to have been the fourth most common recorded cancer in Australia in 2023.7-8

The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend a minimum daily intake of vegetables of between 5 and 6 serves per day depending on age and sex for people aged 18 years and over.4

In 2022, only 6.5% of Australians aged 18 years and over met the dietary guideline for vegetable intake. The proportion of females meeting this guideline (9.8%) was approximately three times the proportion for males (3.0%). The proportion meeting the vegetable dietary guidelines tended to be higher for females than males in all age groups.5

 

Remoteness and socioeconomic status (SES)

In 2022, the proportion of persons not meeting the dietary guideline for vegetable intake appeared to be marginally higher in Major cities (94.1%) than in Inner regional (91.2%) and Outer regional and Remote areas (91.9%). 

In 2022, Australians aged 18 years and over living in the lowest socioeconomic areas were more likely to report not meeting vegetable dietary recommendations than those living in the highest socioeconomic areas (95.3% vs 92.6%).5

This measure shows the proportion of adults aged 18 years who met/did not meet the dietary guideline for daily vegetable intake.

Numerator:  Number of persons aged 18 years and over who reported usual daily intake in serves of vegetables meeting or not meeting the dietary guideline for daily vegetable intake. 

Denominator: Number of persons aged 18 years and over

Recommended vegetable intake4

Consuming at least five serves of vegetables per day (75g per serve) is recommended for Australian adults,

The 2013 NHMRC Australian Dietary Guidelines5 recommend the following serves of vegetables/legumes/beans per day:

Recommended serves per day

18 years

19-50 years

51-70 years

70 years and over

          Males

5.5

6

5.5

5

          Females

5

5

5

5

 

Methodology 

The 2022 NHS is considered to be comparable to the 2017-18 NHS and previous cycles. The 2020–21 NHS data should be considered a break in time series from previous NHS collections and used for point-in-time national analysis only. This survey was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic with a substantially changed process for data collection.9

Changes to the 2022 NHS, compared to the 2017-18 NHS in diet questions,9 included: 

  • Changes to fruit and vegetable visual aids for serving sizes.
  • Question updates to fruit and vegetable number of serves to allow more accurate reporting against guidelines.

Remoteness

The Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 was used to allocate participants to a remoteness area based on their area of usual residence.10 Data for 2004-05 used the 2001 ASGC, 2011-12 used the 2006 ASGC, 2014-15 data used the 2011 ASGC, and 2017-18, 2020-21 and 21-22 data used the ASGS 2016.

Socioeconomic status

The 2016 Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index for Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage was used to allocate participants to a SEIFA quintile based on their usual residence.11 For 2004-05 data, the 2004-05 IRSD was used, for 2011-12 and 2014-15 data the 2011 IRSD was used, and for 2017-18, 2020-21 and 21-22 data, the 2016 IRSD was used.

Data for socioeconomic status and remoteness are available for persons in general for 2022. (note: not yet available by sex). 

 

Data sources

ABS National Health Survey in 2007-08, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2017-18, 2020-21 and 2022

ABS 2018-19 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey

Data:

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2024. Dietary Behaviour 2022. Accessed May 2024; 

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/national-health-survey/2022#data-downloads

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2023. 4364.0.00.013.– Dietary Behaviour 2020-2021. Accessed May 2024; https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/dietary-behaviour/2020-21

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2022. 4364.0.55.001– National Health Survey: Health Conditions Prevalence, 2020-21. Accessed May 2024; https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/health-conditions-prevalence/2020-21

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2018. 4364.00.55.001 – National Health Survey: First Results, 2017-18. Accessed May 2024; https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4364.0.55.001

Australia Institute of Health and Welfare. 2021. Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018: Interactive data on risk factor burden. Data tables: ABDS 2018 Risk factor estimates. Accessed May 2024; https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burden-of-disease/abds-2018-interactive-data-risk-factors/data

Policy:

National Health and Medical Research Council (2013) Australian Dietary Guidelines. Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council. Accessed May 2024; https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-09/n55_australian_dietary_guidelines.pdf

Australian Government Department of Health. Nutrition and Healthy Eating. Accessed May 2024; http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubhlth-strateg-food-index.htm

 

References

  1. WHO 2020. Healthy Diet. Accessed May 2024; https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet
  2. Australia Institute of Health and Welfare. 2021. Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018: Interactive data on risk factor burden. Accessed May 2024; https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burden-of-disease/abds-2018-interactive-data-risk-factors/contents/dietary-risk-factors
  3. Australia Institute of Health and Welfare. 2021. Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018: Interactive data on risk factor burden. Data tables: ABDS 2018 Risk factor estimates. Accessed May 2024; https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burden-of-disease/abds-2018-interactive-data-risk-factors/data
  4. National Health and Medical Research Council (2013) Australian Dietary Guidelines. Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council. Accessed May 2024; https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines
  5. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Dietary Behaviour 2022. Accessed May 2024; https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/dietary-behaviour/latest-release
  6. Masrul M, Nindrea RD. Dietary Fibre Protective against Colorectal Cancer Patients in Asia: A Meta-Analysis. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019 May 30;7(10):1723-1727. doi: 10.3889/oamjms.2019.265. PMID: 31210830; PMCID: PMC6560290.
  7. Cancer Australia 2022. Bowel cancer statistics. Cancer Australia 2022. Accessed May 2024; https://www.canceraustralia.gov.au/cancer-types/bowel-cancer/statistics#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20bowel%20cancer%20was,2%2C847%20males%20and%202%2C507%20females
  8. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2022. Cancer Data in Australia. Cancer rankings data visualisation. Accessed May 2024; https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-data-in-australia/contents/cancer-rankings-data-visualisation
  9. Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Health Survey methodology. Accessed May 2024; https://www.abs.gov.au/methodologies/national-health-survey-methodology/2022#summary-of-content-changes
  10. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Remoteness Areas. Accessed May 2024; https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/standards/australian-statistical-geography-standard-asgs-edition-3/jul2021-jun2026/remoteness-structure/remoteness-areas
  11. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Socioeconomic Indexes for areas (SEIFA) 2016. Accessed May 2024; https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/2033.0.55.001

Summary

Less than 1 in 10 adults meet the dietary guidelines for vegetable intake

In 2022, less than one in ten adults (6.5%) met the vegetable recommendation.5

Females are about three times as likely as males to meet the dietary guideline for vegetable intake

The proportion of females meeting the dietary guideline for daily vegetable intake in 2022 (9.8%) was approximately three times the proportion for males (3.0%).5

Related indicator
Fruit consumption
Processed meat and red meat consumption

In this Measure

Topics

Diet

Other measures in this indicator

Fruit consumption
Processed meat and red meat consumption

Related measures

Cancer incidence
Cancer mortality
Mortality-to-incidence ratio
Fruit consumption
Processed meat and red meat consumption