Dieting and food avoidance

Latest release

Information on the prevalence of diets or eating patterns and food avoidance behaviours in Australia

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Reference period
2023
Released
5/09/2025
Next release Unknown
First release
Release date and time
05/09/2025 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

  • One in four (24.9%) people were following a diet or eating pattern in 2023
  • Food avoidance (37.9%), energy restriction (30.5%) and single nutrient reduced (e.g. low carb) (24.0%) diets were the most common types of diet or eating pattern
  • One in twenty (5.3%) people were vegetarian or vegan

These statistics form part of the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS), which ran from January 2023 to March 2024. More information on other topics of interest from the survey is available on the NNPAS 2023 page.

A similar statistical release was previously included on the Australian Health Survey: Nutrition First Results – Foods and Nutrients page.

Dieting and food choices are shaped by a variety of health, social and economic factors. These factors may include income, food prices, food availability, individual preferences and beliefs or cultural traditions[1].

Definitions

Diets and eating patterns

One in four (24.9% or 5.2 million) people aged 15 years and over were currently following a diet or eating pattern in 2023. Overall, females were more likely to follow a diet than males (27.1% compared to 22.6%). The proportion of people on a diet was lowest for people aged 15–29 years (19.8%) and people aged 75 years and over (18.3%). Adults aged 30–49, 50–64 and 65–74 years were similarly likely to follow a diet (28.0%, 26.1% and 28.7%).

Among people who were on a diet, the most common types of diets were:

  • food avoidance (37.9%)
  • energy restriction (30.5%)
  • single nutrient reduced (24.0%).

However, the most common type of diet differed between males and females. Females were more likely to follow a food avoidance diet than any other type of diet, whereas males were more likely to follow an energy restriction diet than any other type of diet. 

  1. Includes diabetic, halal, high calorie, ketogenic, low GI, Mediterranean, processed or fast food avoidance diets.

Food avoidance diets

Among people who were on a diet, a food avoidance diet was:

  • the most common type of diet (37.9%)
  • similarly likely to be followed across most age groups, ranging between 30.8% and 40.5%
  • more likely to be followed by females than males in every age group, except for people 75 years and over where the difference was not significant.

Among people who were on a diet, the most common food avoidance diets were:

  • low or meat free (21.4%)
  • gluten or wheat free (9.7%)
  • low or dairy/lactose free (4.8%).

Energy restriction

Among people who were on a diet, energy restriction diets were:

  • the second most common type of diet followed (30.5%), after food avoidance
  • more likely to be followed by males than any other type of diet
  • similarly likely to be followed for all age groups under 65 years, after which the proportion decreased among older age groups, from 26.0% of people aged 65–74 years to 12.3% of people aged 75 years and over.

Single nutrient reduced

Among people who were on a diet, single nutrient reduced diets:

  • were the third most common type of diet (24.0%)
  • were more likely to be followed by males than females (27.6% compared to 20.7%).
  • increased proportionally with age, from 9.3% of people aged 15–29 years to 43.0% of people aged 75 years and over.

Among people who were on a diet, the most common types of single nutrient reduced diets were:

  • low carbohydrate diets (9.9%)
  • low sugar diets (6.7%)
  • low cholesterol (5.6%) or low fat (4.9%) diets.

Single nutrient increased

Among people on a diet, single nutrient increased diets were followed by one in twenty (4.9%) people and were more likely to be followed by males than females (7.5% compared to 3.2%). Nine in ten (90.7%) people on a single nutrient increased diet were following a high protein diet.

Vegetarian or vegan

People who described themselves as vegetarian or vegan were also considered to be following a diet or eating pattern, characterised by exclusion or avoidance of a particular food group. Among people 15 years and over:

  • one in twenty (5.3%) people were vegetarian or vegan
  • females were more likely to be vegetarian or vegan than males in every age group, except for those aged 75 years and over where the difference was not significant (2.7% and 2.4%)
  • people aged 30–49 years were more likely than any other age group to be vegetarian or vegan (7.3%).

Reasons for food avoidance

People may avoid consuming certain foods for a wide variety of reasons. In 2023, the proportion of people aged 2 years and over who avoided food:

  • due to food intolerances was 13.6%
  • for cultural, religious or ethical reasons was 9.2%
  • due to food allergies was 7.1%.

Food intolerances

Food intolerances to certain foods can result in a wide range of adverse reactions (such as bloating, headaches or rashes) that do not involve the immune system[2]. Over one in eight (13.6% or 3.5 million) people avoided some types of food due to intolerances. People were more likely to report avoiding food due to a lactose intolerance (5.6%) than any other type of food intolerance.

Children aged 2–17 years were the least likely of any age group to avoid food due to intolerances (8.0%). The proportion of children who avoided food due to intolerances was similar between males and females (6.8% and 9.6%), as the difference was not significant.

Of adults aged 18 years and over:

  • the proportion of people who avoided food due to intolerances was steady with age (ranging from 17.7% to 23.0%)
  • females were more likely to avoid food due to intolerances than males in all adult age groups.

Cultural, religious or ethical reasons

Almost one in ten (9.2% or 2.3 million) people avoided certain types of food for cultural, religious or ethical reasons. People were most likely to avoid pork (5.9%), followed by beef (4.0%) and all meat (2.9%). Females were more likely to avoid food for cultural, religious or ethical reasons than males (10.2% compared to 8.0%), especially females aged 18–29 years (14.1% compared to 7.7% for males).

The proportion of people who avoided food for cultural, religious or ethical reasons increased from 8.9% of children aged 2–17 years to 13.0% of people aged 30–49 years. The proportion then decreased with age to 2.0% of people aged 75 years and over. 

Food allergies

An allergy occurs when a person’s immune system reacts to substances in the environment that are usually harmless. These substances are also known as allergens and are commonly found in foods[3]. The National Health Survey 2022 reported that 7.0% (or 1.8 million) of people had a food allergy as a long-term health condition in Australia.

Similarly, one in fourteen (7.1% or 1.8 million) people 2 years and over avoided some types of food due to allergies in 2023. People were more likely to report avoiding food due to a fruit or vegetable allergy (2.0%) than any other type of allergy, with a higher proportion of fruit or vegetable allergies among adults compared to children (2.3% compared to 0.8%). 

Females were more likely than males to report avoiding food due to allergies (8.1% compared to 6.2%). From childhood to mid-adulthood, a similar proportion of males and females avoided food due to allergies. Females were more likely to avoid food due to allergies than males in every age group above 50:

  • 50–64 years (10.7% compared to 6.4%)
  • 65–74 years (9.8% compared to 5.0%)
  • 75 years and over (7.8% compared to 3.0%).

Footnotes

  1. World Health Organization, ‘Healthy diet’, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet; accessed 27/07/2025.
  2. Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, ‘Food intolerance’, https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/food-other-adverse-reactions/food-intolerance; accessed 27/07/2025.
  3. Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, ‘What is allergy?’, https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/about-allergy/what-is-allergy; accessed 27/07/2025.

Data downloads

See the National Nutrition and Physical Activity 2023 data downloads for the full suite of available data. Data relating to dieting and food avoidance can be found in tables:

  • TABLES 11 and 12 Diet or eating pattern followed and food avoidance, by age and sex.

Media release

See National Nutrition and Physical Activity 2023 media release for more information.

Methodology

Scope

Includes:

  • usual residents in Australia aged 2+ years living in private dwellings
  • urban and rural areas in all states and territories, excluding very remote parts of Australia and discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities.

Geography

The data available includes estimates for Australia.

Source

The National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Collection method

  • Face-to-face interview with an ABS Interviewer
  • 24-hour dietary recall data collected face-to-face with an ABS Interviewer or via an online interview
  • Some physical activity and sleep data was collected on a voluntary basis via an accelerometer.

Concepts, sources and methods

History of changes

Full history of changes

View full methodology