Australia finds teens aren't eating fruits and veggies

William Atkins
Friday, 03 October 2008 20:57

Science - Health

For official information on this survey from the Australian government, please go to the website “National Monitoring in Public Health Nutrition.”

The three organizations (Australian Department of Health and Ageing, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and the Australian Food and Grocery Council) conducting this survey each contributed one million dollars.

A streering group oversaw the project, with technical and scientific experts providing advice to assure the procedure of the project and its results were valid.

For a summary of the survey results, please go to the website “2007 Australian National Children's Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey - Key Findings.”

Other data collected by the researchers was exercise and TV viewing.

The researchers discovered, within the Key Findings website, that the “average time spent doing moderate to vigorous physical activity decreased with age” and the amount to television viewing time “peaked in children aged 13-14 years."

As found on the previously-mentioned website, the Australian government made this statement based on the survey results, “The children surveyed demonstrated a low level of observance of the Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia, which contains the recommended intake of foods from each of the five main food groups (fruit, vegetables, dairy, meat and meat alternatives and cereals).”