FRUIT PRODUCTS AND DISHES

The Fruit products and dishes food group includes fresh, dried and preserved fruit, wild harvested fruits, and mixed dishes where fruit is the major component, such as apple crumble.

Fruit products and dishes were consumed by almost half (46%) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. The proportion of consumers varied considerably across age groups. Young adults aged 19-30 years were the least likely to have eaten food from this group, with only three in ten (30%) reporting any consumption the previous day, while seven in ten (70%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 4-8 years had consumed Fruit products and dishes (see Table 4.1).


The average amount of Fruit products and dishes consumed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 111 grams, around the weight of a large banana or small apple (see Table 5.1).

Was there a difference by remoteness?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote areas were less likely than those in non-remote areas to have consumed Fruit products and dishes (35% compared with 49%), and derived a smaller proportion of their total energy intake from foods in this group (2.8% compared with 3.5%) (see Table 4.1 and Table 8.1). People living in remote areas also consumed a smaller average amount of food from this group (93g compared with 116g) (see Table 5.1).

How did this compare with non-Indigenous people?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were less likely than non-Indigenous people to have consumed Fruit products and dishes (46% compared with 60%) (see Table 4.1 and Table 4.3), and derived a smaller proportion of their energy intake from foods in this group (3.4% compared with 4.4%) (see Table 8.1 and Table 8.3). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also consumed a smaller average amount of food from this group (111g compared with 145g) (see Table 5.1).

'USUAL' DAILY SERVES OF FRUIT

In addition to collecting information about the foods actually consumed on the previous day, the AATSIHS also asked respondents to report the usual number of serves of fruit consumed in a day (where a serve is equivalent to one medium piece or two small pieces of fruit, or one cup of diced fruit pieces, or one- quarter of a cup of sultanas, or four dried apricot halves). The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend one serve of fruit per day for 2-3 year olds, one-and-a-half serves for 4-8 year olds¹, and two serves for everyone aged 9 years and over.

Recommended usual intake of fruit The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines2 recommend a minimum number of serves of fruit each day, depending on age and sex, to ensure good nutrition and health. The table below outlines the recommended number of serves for children, adolescents and adults. Although the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines specify that fruit should mostly be eaten fresh and raw, other forms of fruit can count towards the daily serves occasionally. A serve is approximately 150 grams of fresh fruit, 125 ml of fruit juice (no added sugar) or 30 grams of dried fruit.* RECOMMENDED DAILY SERVES OF FRUIT, by age Age Fruit (serves) 2-3 years 1 4-8 years 1.5 9-11 years 2 12-13 years 2 14-18 years 2 19-50 years 2 51+ years 2 *Note, while the NHMRC 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines allow fruit juice to be used occasionally as one of the daily serves of fruit, the AATSIHS only collected usual serves of fruit (excluding juice).

Just over half (54%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had consumed the recommended serves of fruit per day, with females (57%) more likely than males (51%) to meet the guidelines. These proportions were similar to those in the non-Indigenous population. Similar proportions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in non-remote and remote areas met the guidelines for daily serves of fruit.


ENDNOTES

1. Although the AATSIHS collected whole serves which does not allow strict comparability for the 4-8 year olds, rounding the recommendation down to the one serve provides an indication of the proportion who would meet the recommendation.
2. NHMRC 2013, Australian Dietary Guidelines, Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council,<https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/n55_australian_dietary_guidelines_130530.pdf>, Last accessed 20/02/2015.