Food and Nutrition

Food and nutrition

The following websites are useful for those interested in food and nutrition or looking for resources to support food and nutrition education in Queensland schools.

Food and nutrition

In addition to the websites listed here, it is worth investigating websites of various food companies for information about specific foods and food groups.

International organisations

World Health Organisation

Go to this website for information on health issues on a global scale. The ‘Nutrition’ page of the Health Topics provides information about nutrition on a global scale, including a number of global issues and policies and programs in different countries. It includes fact sheets, data, nutrition guidelines and information on a range of about 50 different nutrition topics.

Their publications include the following regarding sugar:
World Health Organization. (2015). Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children.

Australian government resources

Australian Dietary Guidelines and the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating

Go to this site for information about the Australian Dietary Guidelines and the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating as well as to download free publications about the dietary guidelines, the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, and supporting resources.

Hard copies of some materials can be ordered from the site.

Nutrient Reference Values

The NRVs (Nutrient Reference Values) are a set of recommendations for nutritional intake based on currently available scientific knowledge. They are a joint initiative of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and the New Zealand Ministry of Health (NZMoH). The NRVs include a range of reference values for macro and micronutrients for various population groups (for example, different genders and age groups), as well as recommended dietary energy intake according to gender, age and activity levels.

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Apart from a wealth of statistical data related to food consumption patterns, the ABS site contains a number of reports about the various research initiatives it has conducted, for example:

Australian Health Survey: Consumption of added sugars, 2011–12. Cat no. 43640.0.55.011.
Apparent consumption of alcohol, Australia, 2016–17. Cat no. 4307.0.55.001.
Australian Health Survey: Nutrition first results—Foods and nutrients, 2011–12. [Table 9: Proportion of energy from discretionary foods.]
National health survey: First results, 2017–18 [Table 12.3: Consumption of fruit, vegetables, and sugar-sweetened and diet drinks, Australia, Proportion of persons; and Table 17.3: Children’s consumption of fruit, vegetables and selected sugar-sweetened and diet drinks, Proportion of persons].
Household Expenditure Survey, Australia: Summary of Results, 2015–16.
Household Expenditure Survey, Australia: Summary of results, 2015–16. [Table 6.3A Household expenditure, Detailed expenditure items, Net worth quintiles—Estimates].

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

The AIHW website contains a wealth of data about numerous health and welfare issues, including those related to food and nutrition. There are also many related reports, such as:

A picture of overweight and obesity in Australia, 2017 (dated 2017).
Physical activity across the life stages (dated 2018).
Nutrition across the life stages (dated 2018).

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)

Go to this government site for a raft of food and nutrition topics, categorised under:

Additives and processing aids
Chemicals in food, including mercury in fish
Food allergies
Food safety and recalls
Food technologies and novel foods
Food issues
Genetically modified foods
Imported foods
Labelling including a labelling poster (pdf download)

Country of Origin labelling

Australian Government. (2017). Country of Origin food labelling, Style guide v.2.1.

Health Star Rating system

Australian Government. (2019). Health Star Rating system.
Australian Government. (2017, December). Health Star Rating system Style guide v.5.
National Heart Foundation of Australia. (2019). Report on the monitoring of the implementation of the Health Star Rating system in the first four years of implementation: June 2014 to June 2018.

Smart Choices: Healthy Food & Drink Supply Strategy for QLD Schools

This site contains information about the Queensland Government’s strategy to improve the nutritional value of foods and drinks supplied at schools—for example, at tuckshops, in vending machines, at school camps and during fundraising. It includes a toolkit for implementing the strategy, fact sheets, frequently asked questions, posters, and a PowerPoint presentation for school communities.

Non-government organisations

Cancer Council Australia

Go to the ‘Prevention’ tab, and then ‘Nutrition and physical activity’ section for information and advice about the links between body weight, food and nutrition, physical activity and alcohol t and cancer.
Go to ‘Reduce your risk’ for information about reducing the risk of cancer through actions related to eating healthily, eating meat, maintaining a healthy weight, and limiting alcohol consumption.
Go to the Advocacy tab and then ‘Prevention policy’ for the National Cancer Prevention Policy, which is published every three years and includes a chapter on Obesity.

Heart Foundation

Go to the ‘Healthy eating’ tab for information about food and nutrition, healthy recipes, healthy meal and snack ideas, and food labels. The Food and nutrition section has straightforward information about the five food groups, including the different types of dietary fats.
The ‘For Professionals’ tab has its own Food and Nutrition page, including a downloadable set of the Heart Foundation’s position papers.

Nutrition Australia

Nutrition Australia is a registered charity with a mission of inspiring and empowering healthy eating for all Australia. Their website contains fact sheets, recipes, publications and other resources available for purchase.

Dietitians Association of Australia

The Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) is a not-for-profit, professional association representing dietitians and nutritionists, nutrition scientists, dietetic students, as well as associate and affiliate members. The ‘Smart Eating’ tab of their website leads to a number of topics such as:

Under each of these topics there are several sub topics.