Australian women failing food consumption guidelines

Less than two per cent of Australian women are eating the recommended five servings of vegetables a day, according to new research from The University of Queensland. Research led by Professor Gita Mishra from UQ's School of Population Health examined the eating habits of three groups of Australian women - women aged 31 to 36, pregnant women aged 31 to 36 and women aged 50 to 55. Professor Mishra said the study revealed worrying findings with women's diets. "We compared women's diets to the updated Australian Dietary Guidelines and found that most needed more than two additional servings of vegetables to make up the recommended five," she said. Other findings included: Less than 10 per cent of all women aged 31 to 36 consumed the recommended intake of grains. Fewer than one in four women met the guidelines for daily serves of dairy products, with only one per cent of women aged 50 to 55 reaching the recommended four daily serves of dairy. In terms of Body Mass Index, 54 per cent of the women aged 50 to 55 were overweight or obese, compared with 44 per cent of women aged 31 to 36 and 41 per cent of pregnant women aged 31 to 36, based on their pre-pregnancy weight.