Tuesday April 14 2026: Australians say they are confident about managing their health, but a new report from Healthylife shows otherwise, revealing a significant gap between perception and reality.
The Inaugural Healthylife National Health Confidence Survey of over 1,000 respondents, found that as a nation we are confident in our ability to look after our health, with a mean National Health Confidence Score of 75 out of 100. This uses five key questions based on social and environmental influences on our health to calculate the score.
While being confident can be good, the report highlights that this high level of self-assurance often clashes with rising chronic disease rates and the reality that many of us are not adopting the healthy habits that we perceive we can. Research shows only about one in four people (25 per cent) aged 15 years and over meet the recommended physical activity guidelines and the report data shows people don’t purchase a diet in line with the Australian Dietary Guidelines despite the report showing it can be cheaper to do so.
Healthylife Chief Health Officer and Accredited Practising Dietitian Simone Austin said: “It is a common misconception that achieving good health is simply a matter of personal willpower.
“Our data reveals a national ‘blind spot,’ where overconfidence, or inaccurate perceptions, a type of cognitive bias, often known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, can be masking the health challenges the nation truly faces.
“While 91 per cent of survey respondents agree or strongly agree they can implement healthy habits, the reality of their food purchasing and physical activity levels tells a different story.
“Even though AI is a powerful tool for health information, there is a significant amount of misinformation, so to bridge this gap, high confidence must be built on accurate self-awareness and credible information from trusted health professionals.”
Additional highlights of the Living Healthy Report 2026 include:
The evidence of overconfidence:
Medication & Supplements: 95% of Australians agree or strongly agree they know how to use medications appropriately, yet behaviour often falls short, such as patients stopping medications for chronic conditions within the first year.
Supplement Risks: 85% of people agree or strongly agree they can choose supplements suited to their health, yet many lack an understanding of the ingredients and risks, such as Vitamin B6 overconsumption causing peripheral neuropathy.
Dietary Choices: Despite 87% of people agreeing or strongly agreeing their environments support them to eat healthy, our data on Australians' food purchases for at-home eating shows nearly double the number of discretionary food serves purchased (5.7 per day) compared to vegetables (2.9 per day). These purchasing habits are not in line with the Australian Dietary Guidelines and show minimal shifts over 4 years.
The digital shift: AI trust and misinformation from the Health Confidence Survey:
46% of people had moderate or high trust in health information received from AI, but there is a significant generational divide.
Younger people tend to be more trusting of AI - 62% of those aged 25–44 have moderate or high trust in AI for health information, more than double the 27% moderate or high trust level found in those aged 65 and over.
Geographic location also influences this shift, with 49% of metropolitan residents having moderate or high trust in AI for health advice compared to 37% in regional areas.
This growing reliance on digital tools poses risks as 93% of Australians agree or strongly agree that the health information they have is correct, despite a high prevalence of digital misinformation.
Simone Austin shares her top tips for a healthier life:
Maintain Curiosity: Austin suggests that customers should remain curious, noting that they often ‘don’t know what they don’t know’. She encourages broadening perspectives and seeking feedback, warning that just because something is familiar, advertised, or labelled as ‘natural’, it isn’t necessarily safe.
Identify Misinformation: Austin advises learning how to spot misinformation and auditing “blind spots,” particularly regarding "AI advice," to overcome the Dunning-Kruger effect. She recommends cross-checking health information with credible, formal sources, including General Practitioners, dietitians, pharmacists, and health agencies.
Master the Environment: Austin highlights the importance of identifying surroundings—where people sleep, work, shop, and socialise—that may make healthy habits difficult. She suggests implementing strategies to make healthy choices easier, such as writing a shopping list, planning grocery trips around fresh food aisles, and establishing safeguards like calming, quiet spaces at home to support quality sleep.
The "Plus One" Vegetable Rule: She encourages aiming to eat just one more 75g serve (a fist size) of vegetables daily to help reduce the risk of long-term illness.
Use Data, Not Guesswork: Austin recommends utilising evidence-based tools, such as the Healthylife Food Tracker, to compare actual shopping habits against the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
To download the report and to take the survey, visit https://www.healthylife.com.au/health-report-2026.
ENDS