The life expectancy of Australians ranked third in the world, with men expected to live until 79 and women until 83, according to a 1995 study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. While deaths from heart disease, stroke and cancer are down, Australian's high levels of obesity and rising levels of diabetes, among the worst third among similar countries. These facts point to some pluses and minuses with nutrition in Australian food.
Traditional Aboriginal Diet
Australian Aborigines were primarily hunters and gatherers, but also cultivated yams, a vegetable high in fiber, vitamins and minerals. Roots, tubers, fruits and seeds provided 70 to 80 percent of the Aboriginal diet, according to Kenneth Kiple and Kriemhild Ornelas, editors of the Cambridge World History of Food, making it highly nutritious.
Acacia seeds for instance are high in protein, the quandong, or native peach, is high in vitamin C, and millet, a staple Aboriginal grain, is high in vitamins and minerals. Among the many and varied sources of protein consumed were snakes and lizards, small marsupials and rodents, birds, kangaroos, insects and fish.
Contemporary Aboriginal Diet
While the traditional Aboriginal diet was high in carbohydrates, fiber, protein and nutrients, the Australian Better Health Channel reported in 2009 that the modern Aboriginal diet is high in calories from fats and sugars and low in nutritional value. The website added that indigenous people living in cities eat more fast food, salt and refined flour than non-indigenous people and that their diets specifically lack vitamin C, calcium and magnesium.
Modern Food Overall
After the 1960s, packaged and frozen products dominated the diet of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, with products such as muesli, a nutritious breakfast cereal of rolled oats and dried fruit, and frozen fruits and vegetables, which can be as nutritious as fresh produce. However, American-style fast food outlets, fish-and-chip shops and meat pie carts have also become popular, bringing foods high in fat and sodium, and their attendant health risks, to Australians' diets.
Nutrition Problems
According to the Australian Diet Quality Index Project's 1995 study, only 24 percent of Australians get the recommended two or more serving of fruit each day, and the percentage drops to 1 percent when fruit juice is removed from the count. Only 5 percent of population met the recommendations for four to eight servings of vegetables, with 0 percent meeting the goals when potatoes are removed. Overall, Australians score only 35 out of 60 on the Australian Healthy Eating Index compiled by the government in 1995.
Food Specialties
Claimed as a national dish, a pavolva consists of meringue, with high-protein, low-fat egg whites, topped by fresh fruit and an egg custard -- a healthy and nutritious dessert. Vegemite, a favorite spread for toast and flavoring for soups and stews, is made from brewer's yeast. It is high in B vitamins and a variety of healthy minerals, although it is also high in sodium as well.
References
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Australia's Health in Brief, 2010
- Cambridge: The Cambridge World History of Food
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Nurtrient Data Laboratory
- Terrain.org: Desert Delicious
- Better Health Channel: Aboriginal Diet and Nutrition
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Australian Diet Quality Index Project
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