Food to have sometimes 

Some foods should only be eaten occasionally. These ‘extra foods’ (sometimes called junk food) are foods like potato chips, chocolate, cakes, lollies, soft drinks and some takeaway food like hamburgers and hotdogs. These foods are usually low in nutrients and high in salt, sugar or fat. They are ‘extras’ to be enjoyed occasionally.

If these foods regularly replace more nutritious and healthy foods in your diet, you are likely to become overweight and may develop vitamin and mineral deficiencies and other health problems.

You can have ‘extra foods’ occasionally

We all enjoy a ‘treat’ now and then and it’s okay to have some of these foods now and then as an extra. How often you have them depends on your weight, age and how active you are. But you should keep to small amounts.

If you are overweight and want to lose weight, you should limit these ‘extra’ foods to no more than every second day – and then only if you have a nutritious and balanced diet and you are physically active.

If you are active and not overweight, you could probably have one or two ‘extra foods’ a day – as long as you’ve had your daily requirements of meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables and cereals.

Foods prepared outside the home

Australians spend around one-third of their weekly household food budget on foods prepared outside the home. These include restaurant meals, fast food and takeaway. These foods are often high in fat, salt and sugar. High consumption of these foods may contribute to obesity, heart disease and other disorders.

Fast food and takeaways are often high in saturated fats

The foods sold by popular fast food and takeaway outlets, including fried chicken, hamburgers and hot chips (fries), are often high in saturated fats. These types of fats can cause high cholesterol levels and may cause health problems.

These outlets prefer to use saturated fat because it is cheap and can withstand high cooking temperatures. One fast food or takeaway meal may have more than 50 per cent of your daily fat allowance and almost 100 per cent of your daily saturated fat allowance.

Saturated fats should make up less than 20g of the fat in your daily diet. However, Australians consume, on average, more than 40g of saturated fat per day. For example, each of the following takeaway meals contains about 20g saturated fat:

Fish and chips

Four slices of pizza supreme

Hamburger with the lot and chips

Fried chicken and chips.

Fat is high in kilojoules

Fat is energy dense; it contains twice the amount of kilojoules per gram (37kJ) as protein (17kJ) or carbohydrates (16kJ). Regularly eating more kilojoules than your body needs will lead to weight gain.

Several studies indicate that saturated fats can cause greater weight gain than polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats, even when all varieties contain equivalent kilojoules. Saturated fats also contribute to the risk of heart disease by increasing blood cholesterol levels.

Salt

Convenience foods usually contain high amounts of salt. The body needs some salt. However, too much salt in the diet has been associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, which is a known risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

A maximum salt intake of no more than 5g of salt per day is recommended for adults with normal blood pressure. Many Australians consume double this amount each day.

Less than 20 per cent of our salt intake comes from salt we add to our food. Cutting back on takeaway foods will help reduce your salt intake.

Sugar

Foods like soft drinks, cordials, biscuits, cakes and lollies have high sugar content. Although sugar has not been directly linked to developing heart disease or diabetes, there is evidence that a high sugar intake may contribute to the development of overweight and obesity.

In Australia, soft drinks have become among the most popular beverages. Their consumption has increased by 30 per cent in 10 years. The size of containers has also increased. Ten years ago soft drinks were available in 375ml cans. Now they are commonly sold in 600ml bottles, which provide at least 12–15 teaspoons of sugar.

Studies suggest an association between increasing consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and the development of childhood obesity. That’s why eating foods and drinks with high sugar content should be limited.

Problems caused by too much sugar

High sugar intakes have been associated with:

Tooth decay

Decreased levels of good cholesterol

Increased levels of blood fat associated with diabetes and heart disease

Childhood obesity.