Table of Contents

Introduction
Background............................................................................................. 2
Rationale................................................................................................. 2
Scope...................................................................................................... 2

Materials and Method

Materials................................................................................................. 3
Method.................................................................................................... 3

Data
Figure 1
Factors most influence Australian eating habits................................... 4
Figure 2
Average time spent on cooking............................................................ 5
Figure 3
Proportion of kinds of food in Australian diet........................................ 6
Figure 4a...............................................................................................
Attitudes of eating habits and health status........................................... 7
Figure 4b
Awareness of Australians towards a healthy diet................................. 8

Discussion
Major Findings......................................................................................... 9
Discussion
Impacts on Australian eating habits.................................................. 9
Amount of time spent cooking meals................................................ 9
Proportion of food contributing Australian diet................................. 10
Attitudes and knowledge of eating habits and health conditions...... 10

Conclusion............................................................................................ 11

Bibliography......................................................................................... 12
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Appendix
Questionnaire......................................................................................... 13

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BACKGROUND

Eating habit has been a popular area that is well considered by a wide
range of researchers and scientists in recent years. Not only does it reflect
the culture of a particular group but also has a significant relationship with
health and life expectancy. As a multicultural country, Australian eating
habits vary significantly due to historical change. Different Australian ethic
groups have different eating habits with their own concepts. For example,
for most Asian - Australian people, rice is considered as the main food
while breads play an important role in European - Australian everyday
meals. However, in modern society, there is an increase in the number of
parents both working outside the home. This is one of many reasons
that reduce the meal preparing time. As a result, time-saving meals are
becoming more common and can lead to a change in Australian eating
habits. Another factor affecting eating habits might be related to health
concern or advertisements.

RATIONALE

This topic has been selected as eating plays an essential role in daily life
and contributes to physical vitality and mental health.
This report will analyse some particular factors that may affect Australian
eating habits and the awareness of Australians of the link between eating
habits and health conditions.

SCOPE

This survey will attempt to investigate:

• Factors which influence Australian eating habits
• The average time spent for cooking

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• Proportion of kinds of food in accordance to the healthy food pyramid in
Australian diet
• Different attitudes and knowledge among age groups towards the link
between eating habit and health status

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MATERIALS

The only materials used to collect data for this report were questionnaires.

METHOD

The method used to collect data was conducting survey in the area around
the University of New South Wales Kensington campus and Kingsford
supermarket on Friday 23 May 2008 from 11pm to 2pm and from 3:30pm
to 5pm. As there is a relatively high number of restaurants and
supermarkets in these areas compared to the others, it is more likely to
have interviewees that this report was aimed to focus on.

SAMPLE POPULATION

This report was targeted to achieve the equal number of different

Australian age groups to collect an adequate range of views surrounding
the issue of Australian eating habits.
Table 1: Interviewee age groups

Age Number
Under 18 12
18 -30 12
31-50 12
51+ 12
Total 48

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DATA

Figure 1.

Figure 1 demonstrates the main factors which influence Australian eating

habits. According to the chart, time is the factor which has the most
influence (17 respondents) while no interviewee chose the impact of
advertisement. The second most influential factor is health conditions with
10 interviewees; follow by family and preference with 8 and 7 agreeing
respectively.

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Figure 2.

This figure shows the average time spent on cooking daily meals. Base on
this chart, the highest percentage of people spend from 31 to 60 minutes
for cooking (35%). There are only 11% of people spend more than one
hour. In addition, the number of interviewees who spend 15 - 30 minutes
or less than 15 minutes is the same percentage (27%).

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Figure 3.

Figure 3 shows the proportion of food in accordance to the food pyramid in

Australian diet. As can be seen, fish and meat are chosen by the largest
proportion of interviewees as the most commonly eaten food (52%). The
group of bread, rice, wheat and cereals and milk products are the second
and third most eaten with 31% and 11% respectively. Finally, the smallest
percentage of respondents identify milk products as the food they eat
most (6%).

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Figure 4a.

Attitudes of eating habits and health

status

Age group Under 18 - 31 - Over

Attitude 18 30 50 50
1 0 0 0 0
2 0 1 1 1
3 3 0 1 1
4 7 5 5 4
5 2 6 5 6

Figure 4a illustrates attitudes among different age groups towards the link
between eating habits and health status through ranking the impact of
food on health from 1 (not influential) to 5 (extremely influential). Overall,
the majority of interviewees in all groups chose either 4 or 5 which
indicates that the link between food and health is highly recognized while
none chose 1. In the 18 – 30, 31 - 50 and over 50 groups, the majority of
interviewees chose 5 whereas in the under 18, only 2 did. Meanwhile, the
neutral 3 was most chosen by the adolescent group (3 interviewees)
compared to three other age groups (either 0 or 1 interviewee).

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Figure 4b.

Figure 4b indicates the awareness of Australians towards a healthy diet

through the question of percentage and grams of fat intake daily. The
oldest group has the highest percentage of correct answers (less than 30%
of total calories and no more than 70 grams) which is about 70% correct.
The adolescent group follows with over 60% of answers correctly. Similarly,
in the range 18 - 30, the correct answers are found to be approximately
55%. Finally, those from 31 to 50 have the least correct answers, around
45%.

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MAJOR FINDINGS

• Time has the most influence on Australian eating habits.

• The greatest proportion of interviewees spends between 31 and 60
minutes for cooking.
• The most commonly eaten food for the majority of Australians is fish
and meat.
• Those over 50 have both high awareness and knowledge while the
under 18 have the least awareness but relatively high knowledge of the
link between eating and health conditions.

DISCUSSION

1. Impacts on Australian eating habits

According to figure 1, time is chosen by the highest number of

interviewees as the most influences on Australian eating habits. In modern
society, time pressure seems to be greater than the others, therefore
people have to adjust their eating habits in accordance with time limits.
In contrast, no respondents identify the impact of advertisement as the
main factor. The greater number of advertisements on the media can lead
to a negative effect rather than an increase in demand. Moreover,
interviewees seem to be more aware of the difference between
advertisements and facts, hence their eating habits are less likely to be
affected by advertisements.

2. Amount of time spent cooking meals

As figure 2 shows, the greatest percentage of interviewees spend an

average of 31 - 60 minutes cooking meals. The range of less than 15 and
15 - 30 minutes has an equal proportion which is slightly smaller than the
range of 31 - 60 minutes. According to figure 1, time and health conditions
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are the two greatest influences on Australian eating habits; therefore, it is
not surprising to have the highest percentage spending 31 - 60 minutes
cooking. Not only would people like to save time but they also want to
have enough nutritional intake. Also, this is often the average length of
time for a normal Australian meal. Both lower ranges have the same
percentage which is only slightly less than the first one. This might be
because fast cooking is becoming more popular and more instant food is
available in food stores and supermarkets across Australia.

3. Proportion of food contributing Australian diet

According to figure 3, the majority of respondents indicate fish and meat

as their most commonly eaten food whereas milk products are chosen by
the least. Since Australia is famous for the quality of meat, this could
explain why this is their main food group. Moreover, the body size of most
Australians is larger than Asians; therefore, more calories, of which the
main sources are fish and meat, are needed to provide enough energy for
daily activities. Surprisingly, although Australia is a country of milk, milk
products are not among those eaten most. Most interviewees said that
they are concerned about the level of fat when choosing food and over a
half are trying to lose weight, which could explain why milk products are
the least chosen. The Australian diet does not reflect the recommendation
of the healthy food pyramid as the group of foods which are made from
grains such as wheat and rice should be eaten most because they contain
carbohydrates which provide the body with energy for physical activity
and for proper organ function.

4. Attitudes and knowledge of eating habits and health conditions

As figure 4a and 4b demonstrate, the group of over 50 has both high

awareness and knowledge of the effect of eating habits on health. The 31 -
50 age group has considerably high amount but least knowledge while the

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under 18 have the least awareness but relatively high knowledge about
the issue.
Those over 50 are more likely to be concerned about their eating and
health conditions due to the fact that age is often associated with some
health problems. They often have more knowledge because of age
experience and are less affected by life pressure, so they can spend more
time on medical information. The 31 - 50 have high awareness but least
knowledge and this may be because of working hours and other life
concerns; therefore, the time spent on the news can be limited. In
contrast, the youngest often have less interest in health matters due to
the least health problems compared to the others. Consequently, they
have the least awareness but relatively high knowledge due to education
and media.

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CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the results indicate that time is the main influence on

Australian eating habits with the average cooking time been from 31 to 60
minutes. The most eaten food is fish and meat and the over 50 is the only
age group that has both high awareness and knowledge of the impact of
eating on health. This might be because of age experience and the
relationship between health concerns and ageing.
Finally, this report was limited by the few questions possible and the small
number of interviewees in Kensington and Kingsford. A more ideal sample
could compare attitudes among urban and rural Australians with more
questions in the survey.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_guide_pyramid
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-
eat/carbohydrates/
http://www.skdir.com/weight-loss.html
www.usaweekend.com/00_issues/000213/000213health.html

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Questionnaire

AUSTRALIAN EATING HABITS - FACTORS INFLUENCE AND

AWARENESS

This survey is part of the University of NSW Foundation Year Academic

Course.
Questionnaires are anonymous and confidential. They will only be used for
the purpose of this survey.

Purpose of this survey:

This survey is part of our course of study. It aims to investigate opinions

about factors might influence Australian eating habits

1. Gender: (Please tick one only) Male Female

2. Age group: UNDER 18 18-30

31-50 51+

3. According to you, which factor influences your eating habits? Please

number in order of importance from 1 (most influence) to 7 (least
influence)
_____ Time
_____ Culture
_____ Health conditions
______Family
______ Advertisement
_____ Preference
______ Other (Please specify. eg.
Price)_____________________________

4. The approximate time you spend for cooking a meal is:

Less than 15 minutes 15-30 minutes

31-60 minutes More than 1 hour

5. How much do you think food influences health?

1 2 3 4 5
Not at all Slightly influential Neutral Very influential
Extremely influential

6. Are you concerned about the ingredients when choosing food?

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 YES NO

If YES, which factors in the ingredients are you concerned about? (Please
tick one or more options)
Fat level Organic content level
Sugar level Fibre level
Allergen level (if it includes any allergen, eg peanuts)
Other (Please specify)________________________________

7. Which food do you eat most? (Please number in order from 1 (=most)
to 4 (=least))
_____ Fish/ meat/ poultry/ egg/ nut group _____ Vegetable,
fruit
_____ Milk products _____ Bread, rice,
wheat, cereals

8. In your opinion, how much water you should drink a day?

Less than 0.5 l 0.5 – 1l
1.5 – 2l More than 2l

9. Do you think eating habit changes as we get older?

YES NO UNSURE
If YES, why?
_____________________________________________________________________

10.
(i) Are you trying to lose weight? YES NO

(ii) If YES, what is your method in particular?

Medicine
Exercise
Eat very little
Eat a smaller volume of food than usual which still provides the
calories needed
Combined methods (Please
specify)___________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Other___________________________________________________________

11.
(i) In your opinion, the level of fat a healthy diet should provide is:
Less than 30% of total calories 30 – 40% of total calories
45 – 50% of total calories 50 – 70% of total calories

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(ii) According to you, the grams of fat per day you should provide are:
No more than 70 grams No more than 75 grams

No more than 80 grams No more than 85 grams

12. According to you, the grams of dietary fibre intake per day are:
10 grams 18 grams 35 grams 45
grams

13. Some claim that there is a strong connection between food choices and
health. Which, if any, diseases do you think are caused mainly by poor
diet?(please tick one or more options)
Diabetes Heart disease
Cancer Overweight/
Obesities

Thank you for your time and cooperation

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