According to the latest findings from Roy Morgan Research, only 2% of the population eat two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables each day this being the minimum daily fruit-and-veg intake recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
“The NMHRC’s message that we should all be eating at least five serves of vegetables and two of fruit every day has been widely promoted, but very few of us manage to do so. The amount of vegetables most of us eat, in particular, is well below the recommendation.” Angela Smith, Group Account Director, Roy Morgan Research.
Ms Smith explained that Vegetables are where most Australians fall short: more than 60% of the population eat just two or less serves each day, and only 6% eat five or more serves. Women tend to eat more servings than men, and Australians aged 50+ are generally more likely than their younger counterparts to eat three or more serves each day. But even though people aged 65+ are the most zealous vege-eaters, a mere 8% of them eat the recommended five serves each day.

“Compared with the ease of eating two pieces of fruit a day, eating five serves of vegetables isn’t always so straightforward. Coming up with and preparing creative, tasty vege-centric meals takes time – all that chopping! It’s a far cry from Australia’s long-standing meat-and-two-veg culinary tradition (although our increasingly multicultural population is changing this).” Ms Smith commented.
Ms Smith went on to point out that young married parents are among the least likely segments of the population to get their ‘two-and-five’, Smith added that Young singles also rate poorly for eating the recommended daily serves of fruit and veg, as of course do people from the FG socioeconomic quintile. Married people without kids tend to be a little likelier to eat their recommended daily servings, as do older single parents.
“But given that less than 2% of Australians do eat five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit every day, pretty much all of us have ample room for dietary improvements.” Ms Smith commented.