Healthy Eating

A healthy diet improves wellbeing and quality of life, and can reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. For infants, children and adolescents, good nutrition is critical for normal growth and being healthy.

Dietary advice, based on the latest scientific evidence on food and health, is essential to make a healthy food choice.

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGHE) and the Australian Dietary Guidelines  (ADG) have been developed based on the scientific evidence and expert opinion to improve dietary intake and health and prevent diet-related chronic diseases.

Many of the health related problems are related to unhealthy diet in Australians such as excessive intake of high energy foods, sugars, salt and saturated fat and inadequate intake of nutrients (vegetables, fruits, and legumes).

Some of the unhealthy foods include
  • Fried and fatty take-away foods,
  • Baked products like pastries, cakes and biscuits,
  • Savoury snacks like chips
  • Sugar-sweetened drinks.
Frequent consumption of these foods can increase the risk of overweight and obesity and chronic diseases.

Scientific studies suggested that Australians need to eat more vegetables, fruits, wholegrain cereals/bread, reduced fat dairy products, fish, seafood, poultry, eggs, legumes/beans, and nuts/seeds. On the other hand Australians need to eat less starchy vegetables, refined cereals/bread, high and medium fat dairy products, red meats, food high in saturated fat, added sugar,added salt, or alcohol

Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGHE) is a visual chartrepresenting the proportion of
the five food groups which should be consumed each day.
Five food groups include
  • Vegetables
  • Fruits
  • Grain (cereal) foods
  • Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, nuts/seeds and legumes/beans
  • Milk, yoghurt cheese and/or alternatives
Five principal advices are highlighted in the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Knowing and understanding these guidelines can help us to strengthen healthy choices. Each Guideline is considered to be equally important in terms of public health outcomes
  • Guideline 1
To achieve and maintain a healthy weight, be physically active and choose amounts of
nutritious food and drinks to meet your energy needs

  • Guideline 2
Enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods from these five groups every day

  • Guideline 3
Limit intake of foods containing saturated fat, added salt, added sugars and alcohol

  • Guideline 4
Encourage, support and promote breastfeeding

  • Guideline 5
Care for your food; prepare and store it safely

For more information discuss with your dietitian