Australia's new dietary guidelines hold no unexpected plot twists. You still need to eat more vegetables, fruit and whole grains, and fewer unhealthy junk foods, those which are high salt, sugar and saturated fat.
But putting physical activity at the top of dietary guidelines is a bit of surprise. In the past, the guidelines have focused on what food and drink you need to include in a healthy diet, but now the focus is about 'energy balance'.
It might sound like gobbledegook, but the idea of 'energy balance' simply means making sure the energy you get from food and drink is no more than the energy your body needs to maintain a healthy weight. Obviously, your age, gender, height and level of physical activity all play a role in the amount of energy you need.
With more than 60 per cent of adults and 25 per cent of children overweight and obese this is something many of us need to consider more. (For more information see Being overweight or obese: what does it mean for you?).
And when it comes to food, it's not just about what you eat, but how much, says Professor Warwick Anderson, the chief executive officer at the National Health and Medical Research Council, which published the guidelines.
"We can eat as many leafy vegetables as we like without risk of eating too many kilojoules," Anderson says. "But some other foods, which are healthy in themselves, such as full fat milk and cheese, may also be high in kilojoules and therefore they can tip us over in the daily kilojoule requirement if we eat too much of those.
"If people have a better understanding of this need for energy balance, they can apply that concept to their daily lives as they make choices regarding activity levels as well as healthy food options."
Physical activity
Not only has physical activity been given greater prominence in the current guidelines, but the advice is we need to do more of it if we want to avoid weight gain.
Nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton, who sat on the dietary guidelines working committee, says when previous dietary guidelines were written it was recommended we do between 20 to 30 minutes of physical activity every day. That's now been increased to between 45 and 60 minutes, Stanton says, (although that's yet to be reflected in revised national exercise guidelines).
"In the previous guidelines it was about reducing cardiovascular risk. When we're looking at obesity, the amount of exercise you require is greater," Stanton says.
Physical activity is mentioned high up in the new dietary advice, as part of guideline one.
"Some people want to put them against each other and... say 'physical activity is more important' or 'all you need to is diet'," Stanton says. "But both are going to be important."
But putting physical activity at the top of dietary guidelines is a bit of surprise. In the past, the guidelines have focused on what food and drink you need to include in a healthy diet, but now the focus is about 'energy balance'.
It might sound like gobbledegook, but the idea of 'energy balance' simply means making sure the energy you get from food and drink is no more than the energy your body needs to maintain a healthy weight. Obviously, your age, gender, height and level of physical activity all play a role in the amount of energy you need.
With more than 60 per cent of adults and 25 per cent of children overweight and obese this is something many of us need to consider more. (For more information see Being overweight or obese: what does it mean for you?).
And when it comes to food, it's not just about what you eat, but how much, says Professor Warwick Anderson, the chief executive officer at the National Health and Medical Research Council, which published the guidelines.
"We can eat as many leafy vegetables as we like without risk of eating too many kilojoules," Anderson says. "But some other foods, which are healthy in themselves, such as full fat milk and cheese, may also be high in kilojoules and therefore they can tip us over in the daily kilojoule requirement if we eat too much of those.
"If people have a better understanding of this need for energy balance, they can apply that concept to their daily lives as they make choices regarding activity levels as well as healthy food options."
Physical activity
Not only has physical activity been given greater prominence in the current guidelines, but the advice is we need to do more of it if we want to avoid weight gain.
Nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton, who sat on the dietary guidelines working committee, says when previous dietary guidelines were written it was recommended we do between 20 to 30 minutes of physical activity every day. That's now been increased to between 45 and 60 minutes, Stanton says, (although that's yet to be reflected in revised national exercise guidelines).
"In the previous guidelines it was about reducing cardiovascular risk. When we're looking at obesity, the amount of exercise you require is greater," Stanton says.
Physical activity is mentioned high up in the new dietary advice, as part of guideline one.
"Some people want to put them against each other and... say 'physical activity is more important' or 'all you need to is diet'," Stanton says. "But both are going to be important."
