Roundup: Indigenous Australians consuming too much sugar, not enough vegetables: data

Indigenous Australians are consuming too much sugar and too little of the five major food groups, new data has revealed.

The data, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday, showed that the diet of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is failing to meet the Australian Dietary Guidelines released in 2013.

According to the ABS statistics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were consuming an average of 18 teaspoons (75 grams) of free sugar every day, triple the daily intake recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Louis Gates, director of health at the ABS, said that free sugar accounts for 14 percent of the total energy intake of Australia's Indigenous people compared to the WHO guidelines that free sugar should contribute less than 10 percent to the total energy intake.

"Free sugars include the sugars added by consumers in preparing foods and beverages plus the added sugars in manufactured foods, as well as honey and the sugar naturally present in fruit juice," Gates said in an ABS media release on Wednesday.

Sugar intake was especially concerning among boys aged 14-18 years old who consumed an average of 25 teaspoons of free sugars every day and women aged 19-30 years old who consumed 21 teaspoons of added sugar per day on average.

"Beverages were the source of two thirds of free sugars, with (carbonated) drinks, sports and energy drinks providing 28 per cent," Gates said.

"The data shows that 41 per cent of the population's total daily energy intake came from energy-dense, nutrient-poor 'discretionary foods', such as sweetened beverages, alcohol, cakes, confectionary and pastry products."

In addition to a high sugar intake, the Indigenous population are also falling short of the recommended fruit and vegetable intake, consuming an average of 2.1 serves of vegetables per day, less than half the 5-6 serves recommended in the Australian Dietary Guidelines.

"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults consumed almost one serve (or 30 per cent) less vegetables than non-Indigenous people," Gates said.

"They also consumed just one serve of fruit on average, half the recommended two serves per day."

Indigenous people consumed less water, grain, dairy products and lean meats than non-Indigenous Australians on average, but Indigenous people living in remote areas consumed the most food in the lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts, seeds and beans group.

Those in remote areas ate two servings of food in the lean meat group each day, 49 percent of which was red meat, compared to 1.4 servings per day for Indigenous people in non-remote areas.

Two thirds (66 percent) of Indigenous Australians aged 15 years and over are either overweight or obese according to their Body Mass Index (BMI). Endit