Fresh start: tips to spring clean your health

By  Bianca Frew ,  Gilly Hendrie 11 September 2023 3 min read

You might spring clean your house every year, but do you spring clean your fridge? Spoiler alert. You might need to spring into action.

We’ve been asking Australians for the past eight years how their diet stacks up against the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Our healthy diet score report suggest our dietary habits might need a fresh start. More than 235,000 Australian adults, of different ages and locations, participated in the online survey. We assessed nine areas of diet quality to see how we’re tracking.

Australia's diet score dips

Australian have averaged 55/100 since the survey began. But looking year-on-year, the average diet score has decreased from 56 in 2015 to 53 in 2023. Here’s how your state or territory compares.

• Australian Capital Territory (ACT) scored 56/100
• New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia all scored 55/100
• Northern Territory and Tasmania both scored 54/100.

Women scored better than men on most diet components. The greatest difference was in vegetable consumption – 62/100 for women compared with 54/100 for men. Overall, women scored an average diet score of 56/100, while men scored an average of 53/100.

Spring into action with our healthy diet tips

Whether you’re aiming to eat healthier or simply beat your diet score from last time, we’ve got you covered. Try our tips to reduce, increase and add variety this spring. 

Enjoy fewer treats

Try to reduce the amount of discretionary (junk) foods you’re consuming. Don’t close your browser too quickly – we’re not telling you to cut junk food out of your diet all together. Just being a little more mindful when you are eating these types of foods can help.

Try smaller portions

• Eat them less often (at an average 28 serves a week, we think there is some wiggle room here)

• Limit the types of junk food you are eating (maybe skip the upsell and only get one side instead of two).

Feast on fresh flavours

It’s simple, the more we fill up on the ‘good stuff’ the less likely we are to reach for the sugary and salty treats. Dust off those cookbooks during your spring clean and try a new salad recipe. Look for recipes that utilise herbs and aromatics to add flavour.

While you’re at it, you can sprinkle some nuts or crumble some cheese over the top to get those healthy fats and dairy into your nicely balanced meal. Make your salad a meal by adding colour, flavour and texture – think creamy feta, tart cranberries, salty olives, tangy capers, nutty tahini, and roasted seeds.

We have a great chicken and zucchini caprese salad, perfect for those warm spring nights for you to try.

Diversify your diet

Aim to include three or more vegetables in your main meal. Only four in 10 adults currently do this. Want to revitalize your well-being and veg out more? Try these tricks:

• Meat and two veg is so last season. Go for protein and three veg this spring. Check out our chicken chow mein salad that really packs a veggie punch!
• Add vegetables to your pasta sauce. You can add diced carrots, celery, grated zucchini, corn kernels, diced mushrooms and broccoli to make your pasta pop.

Let’s spring into action by cutting out some of the cakes and takeaways and popping a few more peas on our plates.