Men are more likely than women to drink both sugar sweetened drinks (such as soft drink) and diet drinks (such as diet cola) and are more likely to consume them in greater amounts.
New data released today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) National Health Survey 2017-18, shows that men were twice as likely as women to consume sugar sweetened drinks daily (12 per cent of men compared with 6 per cent of women). They were also more likely to consume diet drinks daily (6 per cent compared with 4 per cent).
ABS Director of Health Statistics, Louise Gates, said 44 per cent of men and 28 per cent of women usually consume sugar sweetened drinks at least once per week. Men were also more likely than women to consume diet drinks at least once per week (20 per cent compared with 16 per cent).
“On average, men who are daily consumers drink 3.3 cups of sugar sweetened drinks which is equivalent to 825ml or 2.2 cans of soft drink, approximately 19 teaspoons of sugar or 1401 kJ. The equivalent for women who were daily consumers was 2.5 cups which is equivalent to 625ml, 1.7 cans of soft drink or approximately 14 teaspoons of sugar or 1061 kJ," Ms Gates said.
Younger people were more likely to consume sugar sweetened drinks with 61 per cent of 18-24 year olds consuming at least once per week and 14 per cent consuming daily. Of those aged 65 and over, 19 per cent consume sugar sweetened drinks at least once per week and 6 per cent consume daily.
Rates of consumption were highest in the Northern Territory where 12 per cent consume sugar sweetened drinks daily compared with 6.5 per cent in the Australian Capital Territory.
Further details are in National Health Survey: First Results, 2017-18 (cat. no. 4364.0.55.001) from the ABS website http://www.abs.gov.au.