VEGETABLE PRODUCTS AND DISHES

The Vegetable products and dishes food group includes vegetables, wild harvested vegetables and dishes where vegetable is the major component for example, zucchini slice and potato bake.

Around two thirds (65%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people consumed Vegetable products and dishes. The largest contributing sub-major group was Potatoes (consumed by 36%), followed by Tomatoes, Other fruiting vegetables such as pumpkin and mushrooms, and Other vegetables and vegetable combinations such as onion, garlic and mixed vegetables (all 15%) (see Table 4.1).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people consumed, on average, 125 grams of vegetables per day, and vegetables provided an average 6.8% of their daily energy intake.


Was there a difference by remoteness?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote areas reported lower overall vegetable consumption (56%) compared with those in non-remote areas (67%), and derived a lower proportion of their daily energy intake from vegetables (5.2% compared with 7.2%) (see Table 4.1 and Table 8.1).

How did this compare with non-Indigenous people?

Overall, Vegetable products and dishes were consumed by a lower proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than non-Indigenous people (65% and 75% respectively). Consumption among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was lower across all Vegetable products and dishes sub-groups, with the exception of Potatoes (36% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with 31% of non-Indigenous people) (see Table 4.1 and Table 4.3).


'USUAL' DAILY SERVES OF VEGETABLES

In addition to collecting information about the foods actually consumed on the previous day, the 2012-13 Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (AATSIHS) also asked people to report the usual number of serves of vegetables consumed in a day (where a serve is equivalent to half a cup of cooked vegetables, half a medium potato or 1 cup of salad vegetables). The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend a minimum number of servings per day based on individuals' age and sex.

Recommended usual intake of vegetables The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend a minimum number of serves of vegetables and legumes/beans 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. A serve is approximately half a cup of cooked vegetables or legumes/beans or one cup of salad vegetables - equivalent to around 75 grams.* RECOMMENDED DAILY SERVES OF VEGETABLES, by age Age Vegetables for males Vegetables for females 2-3 years 2.5 2.5 4-8 years 4.5 4.5 9-11 years 5 5 12-13 years 5.5 5 14-18 years 5.5 5 19-50 years 6 5** 51+ years 5-5.5 5 *Note, while the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines include servings of legumes and beans in the recommendations for vegetable intake, the AHS only collected serves of vegetables (excluding legumes). **Note, the recommended usual intake of vegetables for breastfeeding women is 7.5 serves and pregnant women is 5 serves, however these population groups have not been separated for this data item.

In NATSINPAS, one in twelve (8.0%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people met the recommended usual daily intake of vegetables.¹ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 2-3 years were most likely to have met the guidelines with around half (53%) usually eating two and a half serves per day. Adult males were least likely to have eaten the recommended number of serves of vegetables. Less than 1% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males aged 19-30 years and 31-50 years reported usually eating 6 or more serves of vegetables per day.


A similar proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people aged 2-18 years met the recommended usual intake of vegetables compared with non-Indigenous young people, however a lower proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults 19 years and over met the recommendation compared with non-Indigenous adults (4.4% compared with 6.8%).

ENDNOTES

1. The AATSIHS questionnaire was developed prior to the release of the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines and consequently the units used in the AATSIHS (whole serves) do not allow strict comparability with the guidelines (in which some age/sex groups use half serves). The data presented have been derived by rounding the recommendation down to the whole number of serves, it is therefore likely that proportions who would meet the recommendation in particular categories are overestimates.