Health Snapshots

Daily fruit consumption

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guideline for daily fruit consumption by children and young people is:

  • 2-3 years – 1 serve
  • 4-8 years – 1.5 serves
  • 9-17 years – 2 serves.

Using ABS data, 70% of 2-17 year olds in South Australia met the NHMRC guideline in 2017-18. More children and young people in metropolitan Adelaide met the guideline (71%) than in outer regional/remote South Australia (66%). Almost 8 in 10 children (2-9 years) and almost 6 in 10 children and young people (10-17 years) had consumed 2 or more serves a fruit a day.

In 2017-18, 9% of children and young people (2-17 years) in South Australia had consumed less than 1 serve of fruit per day, higher than the national average (7%).

Children and young people who are overweight or obese

In 2017-18, 26% of all children and young people aged 2-17 years were overweight or obese, an increase since 2014-15 when the proportion was 23%. Fewer children and young people are obese (7%) than overweight (19%) in South Australia.

The proportion of 2-17 year olds that are overweight or obese is lowest in inner regional areas (17%) and highest in remote and very remote areas (35%). In metropolitan Adelaide the proportion is 26%.

In 2017-18, the likelihood of a child or young person being overweight or obese, increases with age. The proportion for 2-4 year olds was 20% and for 16-17 year olds it was 32%.

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