The Australian Dietary Guidelines give advice on eating for health and wellbeing. They’re called dietary guidelines because it’s your usual diet that influences your health. Based on the latest scientific evidence, they describe the best approach to eating for a long and healthy life.
The Australian Dietary Guidelines have information about the types and amounts of foods, food groups and dietary patterns that aim to:
- promote health and wellbeing;
- reduce the risk of diet-related conditions, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity; and
- reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some types of cancers.
The Australian Dietary Guidelines are for use by health professionals, policy makers, educators, food manufacturers, food retailers and researchers, so they can find ways to help Australians eat healthy diets.
The Australian Dietary Guidelines apply to all healthy Australians, as well as those with common health conditions such as being overweight. They do not apply to people who need special dietary advice for a medical condition, or to the frail elderly.
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating is a food selection guide which visually represents the proportion of the five food groups recommended for consumption each day.
When planning any meal or snack either at home or in the canteen, it is important to focus on the core food groups, that way you are guaranteed to provide a healthy balanced option. Download the Australian Government’s Healthy Eating for Children brochure to learn about the amount and kinds of food children and adolescents need to eat for health and wellbeing.
When determining what a serve of fruit or vegetables are use this handy What is a serve checklist, it also has a great Fruit & Veg September: 30-day challenge calendar.
For more information and additional downloadable resources see the Eat for Health website.
