More than 50% of Australian women do not meet the estimated average requirement for iron, iodine, calcium or folate. 

For men’s health, consumption of a ‘western style’ diet high in sugar, fat and processed foods is associated with reduced sperm motility. Diets high in ultra-processed foods, which are often high calorie and low nutrient, are also associated with weight gain in the form of body fat, rather than muscle, which can impact overall health.

To support healthier eating habits, encourage patients to discuss their nutrition, highlighting what they are already doing well and areas they would like to improve.

Healthy and positive nutrition includes:

• Eating regular meals to ensure adequate energy and regulated blood sugars across the day.
• Eating 5 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruits each day as part of meals, along with snacks if required.
• Basing main meals and snacks on wholegrains; high-fibre carbohydrates such as oats, wholegrain breads, pasta and rice.
• Choosing lean sources of protein and ensuring that daily dairy is included
• Reducing daily or weekly intake of discretionary foods, such as soft drinks, energy drinks, chips, chocolate and deep-fried foods. These are often low in quality nutrients but provide a lot of energy, which can contribute to hormonal imbalances, poor blood sugar control and weight gain, all of which can impact health and fertility.

Healthy diets and positive nutrition are best done with simple swaps, such as:

• Snacking on fruit, nuts or yoghurt instead of packaged snacks, cakes or crisps.
• Swapping soft drinks, flavoured waters, bubble teas or sports drinks for tap water, sparkling water, soda water or plain milk.
• Choosing takeaways that include vegetables: such as stir-fry options, vegetarian pizzas, dahl or vegetable-based curries.
• Swapping out burger extras such as bacon or fried onion and including additional salad, either in the burger or on the side.
• Replacing a main meal with an entrée and a side salad when sharing food at a restaurant.
• Adding legumes to home-cooked, mince-based dishes such as lentils to spaghetti bolognaise or black beans to Mexican foods.
• Adding 2 tablespoons of 2 different vegetables (hot or salad type) to a dinner plate each night.
• Eating well does not need to be expensive.