In total, 12 dietary risk factors were included in the Australian Burden of Disease Study 2015. Each dietary risk was assessed independently and included dietary components where adequate amounts in the diet are required to prevent disease, as well diets where excessive consumption contributes to disease development. Information on the recommended dietary intake can be found as part of the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
All dietary risks combined
All dietary risks were responsible for 7.3% of burden of disease in Australia in 2015.
Due to the complex relationships and interactions between risk factors, the individual dietary risks cannot be summed together. To overcome this issue a combined dietary estimate was calculated, referred to as ‘all dietary risks’.
These estimates reflect the amount of burden that could have been avoided if all people in Australia ate a healthy diet (Supplementary tables).
Individual dietary risks
The dietary risks included were a diet low in: fruit, vegetables, milk, nuts & seeds, whole grains & high fibre cereals, legumes, polyunsaturated fat and fish & seafood, as well as a diet high in: sodium, sugar sweetened beverages, red meat and processed meat.
Diet low wholegrains & high fibre cereals was the leading dietary risk contributing to 1.6% of the total burden in Australia in 2015. This was followed by diet low in fruit (1.4% of total burden in 2015), diet low in nuts & seeds (1.3%) and diet high in processed meat (1.2%).