Australia’s Unhealthiest Eaters

As we settle into the new year, many Aussies are still holding on to their New Year’s resolutions. Among the most common goals – the desire to eat a little bit healthier.

The health insurance comparison service, iSelect, wanted to determine if where you live can influence how healthily you eat. We’ve analysed five key factors influencing each state’s eating habits, from fast-food and health-food Google search trends to fruit and vegetable consumption and the number of fast-food outlets, to reveal which states are home to the unhealthiest and healthiest eaters.

Unhealthy Up North

The Northern Territory is home to Australia’s unhealthiest eaters, with an index score of 3.43 out of 10. According to the National Health Survey (2022), 59.9% of Territorians failed to meet the recommended fruit intake of two pieces a day, the highest percentage in the country. Similarly, the NT also struggled with vegetable consumption, recording the second highest percentage of adults not meeting guidelines, at 93.9% of the population.

Victoria

Second on the list is Victoria, with an index score of 4.29 out of 10. The state recorded the third most fast-food related searches and the second fewest health-food related searches, with scores of 75.21 and 80.58 respectively. Despite this, Victorians were found to eat the second largest amount of fruit in the country, with only 55.3% of adults not meeting fruit consumption guidelines.

Queensland

Queensland proved to be third on the unhealthy list with an index score of 4.57 out of 10. Boosting the Sunshine State’s unhealthy ranking was the number of fast-food searches, which were the highest in the country, with a search volume score of 87.71 out of 100. Queensland also had the highest proportion of adults not meeting recommended vegetable consumption, with 94.9% of their adult population failing to meet guidelines. However, our research found that the state is home to the smallest number of fast-food chains per capita.

New South Wales & ACT

Both NSW and the ACT came in equal fourth in our rankings, with an index score of 5.14. New South Welshmen are among Australia’s healthiest eaters largely due to their fruit consumption being the highest in the country, where just 54.2% of the state’s population fail to meet fruit consumption guidelines. When it comes to vegetables, the results are more moderate – NSW sits in the middle of the pack for the proportion of adults falling short on their daily intake.

The ACT recorded the lowest interest in fast food, with a search volume score of 61.14 out of 100 for related online searches. Despite this, our capital territory is home to the second greatest number of fast-food chains per capita, with 71.52 thousand people per restaurant. In terms of veggie consumption, the ACT has the third lowest percentage of adults not meeting guidelines, at 92.3% of the population.

Tasmania

Tasmania is next on our list, coming in on the heathy eating index with a score of 5.43. Taswegians were found to be Australia’s most avid vegetable eaters, with the lowest percentage of the population not eating the recommended number of vegetables each day. But it’s still a high number – as many as 89.1% of people fall into this category! The state also showed the least amount of online interest in healthy food search terms, recording a search volume score of 70.36 out of 100. However, they also showed the second lowest interest in fast-food searches, recording a score of 65.14 for related terms.

South Australia

South Australia came in at number two in Australia for healthy eating with an index score of 5.72. Despite performing better than many states on vegetable consumption, 92.2% of adults in South Australia failed to meet recommended guidelines. South Aussies show the strongest interest in health-food searches online, scoring 90.33 out of 100, significantly higher than Western Australia, the next closest state, at 86.42.

Western Australia

Western Australia stood out as the healthiest state in the country, dominating our index with the highest overall score of 6.58 out of 10. While WA did not top any single healthy-eating metric, it performed strongly across all of them. The state recorded the second lowest number of fast-food outlets, with just 42.08 thousand people per restaurant. WA also had the third lowest proportion of adults missing the recommended daily fruit intake, with 56.2% of the population falling short.