The Australian diet in 2030 will have less fruit and more junk food

Australians will eat more junk food and less fruit by 2030, according to new research from the CSIRO.

The study revealed consumption of ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks is expected to soar by almost 20 per cent, while fruit intake is expected to drop by almost 10 per cent.

Researchers analysed nine years of data from more than 275,000 Australians to forecast future dietary trends, with alarming results.

Fruit intake dropped from 1.56 servings per day in 2015 to 1.45 servings per day in 2023.

That trend was predicted to continue, decreasing to 1.31 daily serves by 2030.

In comparison, Australians had 3.8 servings of junk food a day in 2015, increasing to 4.49 servings in 2023.

This was expected to increase to 5.31 in 2030.

Vegetable intake was expected to remain stagnant, but fell well below the recommended levels.

The study also found Australians over 71 are predicted to have the steepest decline in fruit intake, dropping by 14.7 per cent in 2030.

In a glimmer of hope for future generations, young Aussies aged 18-30 were predicted to increase their fruit intake. But they still consumed excessive amounts of junk food.

Researcher and co-author of the study Gilly Hendrie said the results were “quite concerning” in terms of population health and wellbeing.

“We can see that our eating habits are falling well short of the target in our National Preventive Health Strategy,” Dr Hendrie said.

That strategy includes aiming for Australians to have two servings of fruit per day, five servings of vegetables per day, and having less than 20 per cent of their daily energy intake be from junk food.

Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Terry Slevin said unhealthy diets are a major contributor to preventable ill-health.

And it’s estimated that reducing our junk food intake could save up to $793 million in lifetime healthcare costs.

“Poor diets, driven largely by the aggressive promotion of unhealthy foods, is one of the reasons why obesity and (being) overweight has recently overtaken tobacco as our biggest preventable cause of disease burden,” he said.

He said the next Federal Government has an opportunity to “save lives and money” by implementing measures that will get Australians’ health back on track.

Dr Hendrie hopes the research will kickstart a proactive approach to fixing the situation.

“This analysis could help inform which population group or food group we need to target specifically, and I’m expecting that we’ll need greater effort at every level of influence, so right from the top, in terms of government,” she said.

“We have five years to get back on track with our diets and reverse these concerning trends.”