Fatty FIFO foods pack on the pounds: study

Fly-in fly-out workers are more overweight than the average Australian man and at greater risk of chronic diseases due to their on-site diet, research reveals.

A study of 35 men at a rural mine site in Western Australia found 83 per cent were overweight or obese despite a similar number reporting they did high levels of physical activity.

Edith Cowan University researcher Gemma Quayle told the Public Health Association of Australia conference in Perth that the FIFO workers had excessive levels of sodium and saturated fat in their diet.

The workers also ate less fruit, vegetables, dairy and grain foods than recommended, while consuming lots of meat and unhealthy discretionary foods.

Ms Quayle said of the 76 recipes offered on site, 60 per cent included high salt foods such as butter, cheese, stock and commercial sauces.

Discretionary foods were also readily available in the mining community.

"Having them on display regularly and in prominent positions within the dining area may promote social norms in this population that intake of these foods every day is acceptable," Ms Quayle said.

She said the remoteness of mining sites could be a barrier to providing workers with regular and healthy food, but more research was needed to understand why FIFO workers chose certain foods.