EAT FOR HEALTH Australian Dietary Guidelines

APPENDICES

103

• people living in rental households^987

• younger people than older people^987

• women than men (in some surveys but not others).985,986

Issues of food security in the face of rising food costs are of concern in Australia.^317 For example, national
Consumer Price Index data for the March 2011 quarter indicates that the cost of food had increased by 2.9% and
that, primarily due to effects of flooding in Queensland and Victoria and Cyclone Yasi in Queensland, the cost
of fruit increased by 14.5% and the cost of vegetables increased by 16.2%.^989

There is an urgent need to nationally monitor and sustainably address the factors affecting the price of nutritious
foods, particularly for vulnerable groups who suffer a disproportionate burden of poor health.^317

Social distribution of intake of foods and nutrients

The 1995 National Nutrition Survey^36 showed few systematic differences in food and nutrient intake across
quintiles of social disadvantage, as defined by SEIFA based on the 1991 census. Table A1 shows the intake of
various food groups across SEIFA quintiles from the Survey.

Table A1: Mean daily intakes (g/day) of various food groups, people aged 19 years and over, by SEIFA quintile

Grams per day

Food group

First quintile

(most dis-

advantaged)

Second

quintile

Third

quintile

Fourth

quintile

Fifth quintile

(least dis-

advantaged)

Cereal and cereal products 196 222 203 217 232

Cereal-based products and dishes 113 115 130 135 136

Fruit products and dishes 126 147 141 143 156

Vegetable products and dishes 264 258 260 262 251

Legumes and pulses 9.8 7.9 10.8 9.5 10.7

Milk products and dishes 281 284 285 292 301

Meat, poultry, game 149 163 164 155 158

Fish and seafood 22 24.5 26.3 25.8 28.8

Egg products and dishes 16 15 16 13 19

Snack foods 3.2 3.0 4.2 3.3 3.9

Sugar products and dishes 20 21 20 18 17

Confectionery 7.8 9.2 8.3 9.3 9.1

Seeds and nuts 3.6 4.1 5.2 4.0 4.8

Fats and oils 12 13 13 12 11

Soup 53 62 55 48 57

Savoury sauces and condiments 30 30 28 30 29

Non-alcoholic beverages 2001 2005 1978 2007 1938

Alcoholic beverages 239 254 273 270 234

The key findings were as follows:^990

• Consumption of fruit and fruit products was lower (10–20%) in the most disadvantaged group compared with
the other four groups, but vegetable and legume consumption showed no consistent trend across the groups.
This may be difficult to interpret as potato chips were included within this category.