NATIONAL NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY SURVEY FINDINGS ON CARBS

Lower-carb diets have become increasingly popular in recent years in many parts of the world, and this is reflected in the recently released findings of the Australian National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS) 2023.

The NNPAS 2023 is an important national survey that collects information about the nutrition and physical activity of people living in Australia. The survey was conducted from January 2023 to March 2024 and collected information from people aged two years and over across Australia.

Since the last survey in 2011-2012, Australians have reduced their intake of carbohydrates and are eating more fat and protein. On average, participants were consuming 43.5% of energy from carbohydrate, a little below the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR).

The AMDRs make up part of the Australia and New Zealand Nutrient Reference Values. Based on the scientific knowledge available at the time of publication, they specify the ranges of intakes for the macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) that are associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases while providing adequate intakes of essential nutrients.

The AMDRs for macronutrients in Australia and NZ are:

• Carbohydrates: 45-65% of total energy intake
• Fats: 20-35% of total energy intake
• Proteins: 15-25% of total energy intake

These ranges provide flexibility according to individual food preferences and nutrition goals, but eating within these ranges is likely to provide optimal long-term health outcomes and ensure that you a meeting all your nutritional needs. While the AMDRs only focus on quantity, the quality (i.e. the types of foods you eat to get these macronutrients) is also important.

Carbohydrates in the diet include starches and sugars and the reduction in carb intake in the NNPAS was from sugars, which reduced from 105g in 2011–12 to 84g in 2023, or from 20.0% to 16.6% of energy. However, this includes both added sugars and the natural sugars in fruit and milk products. A positive finding was that intake of free sugars (mostly added sugars) reduced from 11% to 8.2% which is now within the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation that free sugars should make up less than 10% of an individual’s dietary energy intake.

The survey also found that one in four (24.9%) of survey participants were following a diet or eating pattern in 2023 including avoiding certain foods (such as meat, gluten or dairy), restricting energy intake or reducing intake of single nutrients such as carbs or fat. Of those following a diet, almost 10% were following a low-carb diet and 6.7% a low sugar diet.

The reduction in free sugar intake is a positive change, and participants have also reduced their intake of discretionary foods since 2011-2012. However, discretionary foods (foods with little nutritional value and which are usually high in saturated fats, added sugars, added salt and/or alcohol) still make up almost one-third of the total energy intake for the average Australian. Unfortunately, these foods often displace more nutritious foods in the diet.

So, rather than cutting carbs, perhaps Australians need to be focusing more on the quality of the carbs in the diet. Nutrient-dense carbs such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, milk, yoghurt and minimally processed wholegrains have many health benefits, and most Australians are not eating the recommended amounts of these foods. For example, in the 2023 NNPAS, only 6.8% of the participants met the recommendation for vegetable intake and just over half (54%) met the recommendations for fruit.