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Increasing healthy eating and active living

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Healthy eating

Many Victorians do not consume enough of the foods and drinks needed for good health and consume too much food and drink that is high in energy, saturated fat, added sugar, salt or alcohol. This has coincided with an increase in obesity and contributed to chronic disease rates and poor mental health (Victorian Government 2023)  

In Boroondara, 42.7% consume sugar-sweetened drinks at least weekly, which is significantly lower than the 51.7% in metropolitan Melbourne. Within this category, daily or near-daily consumption is reported by 28.1% of Boroondara residents, compared to 33.6% in metropolitan Melbourne, highlighting a lower regular intake in Boroondara.

Column chart showing the proportion of Boroondara and metropolitan Melbourne residents (18+) and their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. 28.1% Boroondara and 33.6% metro Melbourne residents consumed sugar-sweetened beverages daily or several times a week. 14.6% Boroondara and 18.1% metro Melbourne residents consume about once a week. 33.2% Boroondara and 25.1% metro Melbourne residents consume less than once a week. 24.1% Boroondara and 23.1% metro Melbourne residents never drink sugar-sweetened bev

Figure 1: The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Data source: Unpublished 2023 Victorian Population Health Survey.
 

Active living

As well as helping to prevent chronic disease, physical activity promotes mental wellbeing and social connection, increases productivity and can lead to positive changes to the environments we live and play in. (VicHealth 2023) 

The Victorian Population Health Survey 2023 included questions about time spent on physical activity (for example sport, exercise, brisk walking, cycling, or to get to and from places, but not included house work or physical activity that is part of a job). Based on their answers, respondents are categorised as:

  • doing no moderate or vigorous physical activity
  • doing less than 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week
  • doing at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week.

Almost 2 in 5 Boroondara adults (18+) did at least 150 minutes of exercise, with one in 3 for metropolitan Melbourne (Figure 2). 

Column chart showing the proportion of Boroondara and metropolitan Melbourne residents (18+) who met physical activity guidelines. 11.4% of Boroondara and 16% of metro Melbourne residents did do any moderate to vigorous exercise. 48.5% of Boroondara and 48.2% of metro Melbourne residents did less than 150 minutes per week and 39.8% of Boroondara and 34.5% of metro Melbourne residents did at least 150 minutes per week of physical activity.

Figure 2: Most Boroondara adults do sufficient exercise, but more than one in 10 do not. Data source: Unpublished 2023 Victorian Population Health Survey. Note: category values do not sum to 100% because 'No response' data is not shown in the chart.

Boroondara residents are more likely to do at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week than their metropolitan Melbourne counterparts, but they are also more likely to sit for eight or more hours during an average weekday according to the 2023 Victorian Population Health Survey (33.7% compared to 29.8% for metropolitan Melbourne). 

This may be linked to the occupational profile of Boroondara residents. At the 2021 Census, 9.1% of employed Boroondara residents were technicians and trades workers or labourers compared to 19.9% of employed residents across metropolitan Melbourne. 

The built environment can influence physical activity levels (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2024) and according to the Australian Urban Observatory, Boroondara is among the top 27% of Melbourne Local Government Areas in terms of walkability for transport, which they measure based on: 

  • land use mix and services of daily living (something to walk to)
  • street connectivity (a way to get there) 
  • dwelling density. 

Overweight and obesity

Being physically active and having a healthy diet reduces risk factors for disease such as overweight and obesity (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2017), a leading cause of preventable illness (Victorian Government, 2019). 

The 2023 Victorian Population Health Survey has 46.9% of Boroondara adults as overweight or obese, but they are less likely to be overweight or obese than the metropolitan Melbourne average, 52.3% .

Children and young people 

Healthy eating and physical activity are important for children and young people, and childhood and adolescence are stages where good habits can be formed for adulthood. (Due et al 2011, cited in Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2021)

The Victorian Population Health Survey, the source of most data presented on this page, does not capture information from people under 18 years of age. The Victorian Government’s Victorian Child and Adolescent Monitoring System portal presents data relating to children and young people and key health outcomes, including healthy eating, physical activity and overweight and obesity.

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