Aussie diets "worse than first thought": peak scientific body

The largest dietary survey ever undertaken in Australia has found the average Aussie diet would be graded a "fail", with the overall median score just 59/100 after more than 85,000 people responded to the survey.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) released the results of its Heathy Diet Score report on Monday, which collated survey results from 86,500 Australian adults across a 12 month period.

Professor Manny Noakes, CSIRO Research Director and co-author of the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, said Australians are normally thought of as fit and healthy. However, the result of the survey suggested there is much that can be done to improve diets across the nation.

According to the 2016 Healthy Diet Score, 80 percent of those who responded to the survey recorded an individual score below 70/100, a benchmark figure, according to the CSIRO.

"We have an image of being fit and healthy, but with a collective diet score of 59/100, that image could be very different unless we act now," Noakes said in a statement.

"If we can raise our collective score by just over 10 points, we help Australia mitigate against the growing rates of obesity and lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and a third of all cancers."

Noakes said a slight shift towards more positive dietary habits would drastically change the results of the survey in future years.

"All people need to do is halve the bad and double the good. In other words, halve the amount of discretionary food you eat and double your vegetable intake," he said.

"It is never too late to eat better and increase your score, and the nation's (overall score)."

"We encourage people to also take the test regularly to ensure they are improving their eating behavior and overall health and wellbeing." Endit