Nutritious, fair food for better health outcomes

Access to nutritious food is a basic right which should be available to people at all levels of social and economic privilege. Studies show that better health outcomes are most associated with socioeconomic advantage. This is due to disparities in food education, access to healthy food and food affordability. For a fair food system, we must ensure the health of our community by making healthy food available and affordable for all.

Eating well means we consume a nutritious diet that contributes to wellbeing and reduces our risk of adverse health conditions, including obesity, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. A basic understanding, skills and education about eating well can be shared, which raises awareness about healthy eating in our community. If you feel you could improve the way you eat – there are many organisations and resources available to help you gain the understanding, skills and tools needed to eat well.

  • 34.6% of adult residents in Wollongong are considered overweight, which is lower than the NSW average at 35%. However Wollongong has a slightly higher percentage of obese individuals at 33.4% in comparison to a 30.9% average in NSW.[1]
  • In NSW only 7.4% of people are consuming the recommended daily intake of vegetables per day.[2]
  • In 2009, only 41% of adult Australians showed enough understanding about accessing and applying health information (healthy literacy) to meet the complex demands of everyday life (Chapter 4.2 Australia’s Health AIHW, 2018).[3]

[1]Phidu.torrens.edu.au. 2020. Instantatlas™ Report.

[2]Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2020. Poor Diet, Data – Australian Institute Of Health And Welfare.

[3]Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2020. Australia’s Health 2016, Chapter 4 Determinants Of Health – Australian Institute Of Health And Welfare.