CSIRO test reveals best diet for you

Researchers have identified five behavioural and personality types that impact how well individuals maintain certain diets. Photo / Getty

Are you a serial dieter?

One of those people who starts out with grand plans to stick to a healthy eating regimen, only to find you've fallen off the bandwagon and you're back to your old habits (with a face covered in chocolate)?

Psychology plays a big part in healthy eating, and that's why the CSIRO's new "diet type" questionnaire could be the key to sticking to your 2017 weight-loss plan.

"Your personality can play a vital role in your ability to persist with a healthy eating plan," CSIRO Behavioural Scientist Dr Sinead Golley says.

"In spite of this, however, people often focus on nutrition and exercise information and ignore behavioural and emotional aspects that influence a person's eating.

"This means many Australians are making New Year's weight-loss resolutions 'blind', and not understanding what approach may best fit their personality and lifestyle, and what challenges they may face."

To develop the free online weight-loss tool scientists conducted extensive research into the emotional, psychological and behavioural patterns that influence a person's eating habits. In doing so they identified five behavioural and personality types that play an important role in how successfully people maintain a diet:

• The Thinker - Overthinking leads to stress and mood swings which can derail your eating patterns.

• The Craver - This person's heightened experience of cravings can lead to overeating in a variety of 'tricky' situations.

•The Foodie - Food is on your mind 24/7 - you love making, eating and experiencing it.

•The Socialiser - Flexibility is essential - you won't let strict food restrictions stifle your
social life.

•The Freewheeler - Spontaneous and impulsive, you tend to make choices in the here-and-now.

Participants fill the survey in online (it takes about 3 - 5 minutes) to receive a profile describing their personal diet type; weight-loss tips suited to that diet type; a personality breakdown showing the characteristics of their diet type; and a recommended weight-loss target (if applicable).

New and existing members of the Total Wellbeing Diet program also receive a more comprehensive profile of their diet type with expert tips and a personalised 12-week menu plan.

Science Minister Greg Hunt congratulated CSIRO researchers on developing the new diet
types assessment.

"For more than a decade the Total Wellbeing Diet has been helping Australians to live and eat healthy," Minister Hunt said.

"The Total Wellbeing Diet is one of CSIRO's major success stories."