Australian Dietary Guidelines and the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating [Drafts for public comment]

Drafts of the Australian Dietary Guidelines and the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating are now available for public comment.

The Guidelines are based on the best available scientific evidence linking diet and health. They provide information for health professionals and the general population to reduce the risk of diet-related disease. The Dietary Guidelines encourage healthy dietary patterns to promote and maintain the nutrition-related health and wellbeing of the Australian population.

The revised Australian Dietary Guidelines have been updated with recent scientific evidence about the relationships between food, dietary patterns and health outcomes. They are based on foods and food groups, rather than nutrients as in the 2003 edition.

The evidence base has strengthened for:

* The association between the consumption of sugar sweetened drinks and the risk of excessive weight gain in both children and adults
* The health benefits of breastfeeding
* The association between the consumption of milk and decreased risk of heart disease and some cancers
* The association between the consumption of fruit and decreased risk of heart disease
* The association between the consumption of non-starchy vegetables and decreased risk of some cancers
* The association between the consumption of wholegrain cereals and decreased risk of heart disease and excessive weight gain.

Evidence suggests Australians need to eat more:

vegetables and legumes/beans; fruits; wholegrain cereals; low fat milk, yoghurt, cheese ; fish, seafood, poultry, eggs, legumes and beans (including soy), and nuts and seeds; and red meat (young females only)

Evidence suggests Australians need to eat less:

starchy vegetables (e.g. potatoes); refined cereals; high and medium fat dairy foods ; red meats (adult males only); food and drinks high in saturated fat, added sugar, salt, or alcohol (e.g. fried foods, most take-away foods from quick service restaurants, cakes and biscuits, chocolate and confectionery, sweetened drinks).

Supporting documents to the guidelines include : the Evidence report, Literature Review on Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women and A Modelling System to Inform the Revision of the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.

Submissions are invited on the guidelines. The Public Consultation is open until Wednesday, 29 February, 2012.