ball-howwell-2004.pdf (1.08 MB)
How well do Australian women comply with dietary guidelines?
journal contribution
posted on 2004-01-01, 00:00 authored by Kylie BallKylie Ball, G Mishra, C Thane, A HodgeObjective: To investigate the proportion of middle-aged Australian women meeting national dietary recommendations and its variation according to selected sociodemographic and behavioural characteristics.
Design: This cross-sectional population-based study used a food-frequency questionnaire to investigate dietary patterns and compliance with 13 commonly promoted dietary guidelines among a cohort of middle-aged women participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.
Setting: Nation-wide community-based survey.
Subjects: A total of 10 561 women aged 50–55 years at the time of the survey in 2001.
Results: Only about one-third of women complied with more than half of the guidelines, and only two women in the entire sample met all 13 guidelines examined. While guidelines for meat/fish/poultry/eggs/nuts/legumes and ‘extra’ foods (e.g. ice cream, chocolate, cakes, potatoes, pizza, hamburgers and wine) were met well, large percentages of women (68–88%) did not meet guidelines relating to the consumption of breads, cereal-based foods and dairy products, and intakes of total and saturated fat and iron. Women working in lower socio-economic status occupations, and women living alone or with people other than a partner and/or children, were at significantly increased risk of not meeting guidelines.
Conclusions: The present results indicate that a large proportion of middle-aged Australian women are not meeting dietary guidelines. Without substantial changes in their diets, and help in making these changes, current national guidelines appear unachievable for many women.
Design: This cross-sectional population-based study used a food-frequency questionnaire to investigate dietary patterns and compliance with 13 commonly promoted dietary guidelines among a cohort of middle-aged women participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.
Setting: Nation-wide community-based survey.
Subjects: A total of 10 561 women aged 50–55 years at the time of the survey in 2001.
Results: Only about one-third of women complied with more than half of the guidelines, and only two women in the entire sample met all 13 guidelines examined. While guidelines for meat/fish/poultry/eggs/nuts/legumes and ‘extra’ foods (e.g. ice cream, chocolate, cakes, potatoes, pizza, hamburgers and wine) were met well, large percentages of women (68–88%) did not meet guidelines relating to the consumption of breads, cereal-based foods and dairy products, and intakes of total and saturated fat and iron. Women working in lower socio-economic status occupations, and women living alone or with people other than a partner and/or children, were at significantly increased risk of not meeting guidelines.
Conclusions: The present results indicate that a large proportion of middle-aged Australian women are not meeting dietary guidelines. Without substantial changes in their diets, and help in making these changes, current national guidelines appear unachievable for many women.
History
Journal
Public health nutritionVolume
7Issue
3Pagination
443 - 452Publisher
CABI PublishingLocation
Wallingford, EnglandPublisher DOI
ISSN
1368-9800eISSN
1475-2727Language
engNotes
Published online by Cambridge University Press 02 Jan 2007Publication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2004, CAB InternationalUsage metrics
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