Important Facts A healthy diet can help prevent all forms of malnutrition as well as non-communicable diseases including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. An unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity are major global health risks. Healthy eating habits should be adopted early in life – breastfeeding promotes healthy growth and improves cognitive development, and may also have long-lasting health benefits, such as reduced risk of excess weight or obesity later in life, and the development of non-communicable diseases. Energy intake (calories) and energy expenditure should be balanced. Evidence suggests that total fat intake should not exceed 30% of total energy intake to avoid inappropriate weight gain, and that there should be a shift from saturated fats to unsaturated fats and toward the elimination of industrially produced trans fats. In a healthy diet, free sugar intake needs to be reduced to less than 10 percent of total energy intake. For greater health benefits, it is recommended that free sugar intake be further reduced to less than 5% of total energy intake. Keeping salt intake below 5 grams per day can help prevent hypertension and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke in adults. WHO Member States agreed to reduce salt intake by 30% of the global population by 2025 and to halt the rising trend of diabetes and obesity. Overview Maintaining a healthy diet throughout the life course can help prevent all forms of malnutrition and a range of non-communicable diseases and conditions. Dietary patterns have changed with the increasing amount of processed foods, rapid urbanization, and evolving lifestyles. People consume foods rich in energy, saturated fats, trans fats, free sugars or salt/iodine, and many do not consume enough fruits, vegetables, and dietary fiber (e.g., whole grains). The exact composition of a diverse, balanced, and healthy diet varies depending on individual needs (e.g., age, gender, lifestyle, and physical activity level), cultural background, locally available foods, and dietary practices. The basic principles that make up a healthy diet remain the same. Fruits, vegetables, legumes (e.g., string beans and pods), nuts, and whole legumes (e.g., unprocessed corn, millet, oats, barley, brown rice); at least 400 grams (5 servings) of fruits and vegetables per day. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava and other starchy root foods are not considered fruits or vegetables. For a person with a healthy weight who consumes about 2,000 calories per day, less than 10% of the energy should come from free sugar, which is equivalent to less than 50 grams (or about 12 teaspoons). If it is less than 5% of the total energy, it may be more beneficial to health. Most free sugars are added to foods by manufacturers, chefs or consumers and are naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates; fat content is less than 30% of total energy. Unsaturated fats (from fish, avocados, nuts, sunflower, canola and olive oils, etc.) are preferred over saturated fats (from fatty meats, butter, palm and coconut oils, cream, cheese, ghee and lard, etc.). industrially produced trans fats (from processed foods, fast foods, snacks, fried foods, frozen pizza, pies, cookies, margarine and spreads) are not beneficial to health; consume less than 5 grams of salt per day (equivalent to about one teaspoon) and use iodized salt. Infants and young children Proper nutrition during the first two years of a child’s life promotes healthy growth and improves cognitive development, and also reduces the risk of excess weight or obesity and the development of non-communicable diseases later in life. Recommendations for a healthy diet for infants and children are similar to those for adults, but some of the following factors are also important: Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. Continue breastfeeding until 2 years of age or longer. After 6 months of age, a variety of nutritionally adequate and safe thick foods should be added along with breastfeeding. Salt and sugar should not be added to complementary foods. Practical advice on healthy eating Fruits and vegetables Consuming at least 5 servings or 400 grams of fruits and vegetables daily helps reduce the risk of NCDs and helps ensure adequate daily intake of dietary fiber. To increase your intake of fruits and vegetables, you can: always include vegetables in your dishes; eat fresh fruits and raw vegetables as a snack; eat fresh fruits and vegetables in season; and vary the types of fruits and vegetables. Adults can help prevent undue weight gain by reducing their total fat intake to less than 30% of total energy. In addition, reducing saturated fat intake to less than 10% of total energy and trans fats to less than 1% of total energy, and replacing these fats with unsaturated fats from vegetable oils, can reduce the risk of NCDs. Fat intake can be reduced by: changing cooking practices: cutting out fatty meats; using vegetable oils (rather than animal oils); steaming or baking rather than frying; avoiding processed foods that contain trans fats; and eating fewer foods with high levels of saturated fats (such as cheese, ice cream and fatty meats). Salt, sodium and potassium Most people consume too much sodium (equivalent to an average of 9-12 grams of salt per day) and not enough potassium through table salt. Excessive salt intake combined with inadequate potassium intake (less than 3.5 grams) can lead to high blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. If people lowered their salt intake to the recommended level of less than 5 grams per day, 1.7 million deaths could be prevented each year. People are often unaware of the amount of salt they consume. In many countries, salt mostly comes from processed foods (e.g. ready-to-eat foods, processed meats such as bacon, ham, sausages, cheese, salty snacks, etc.), or foods that are typically eaten in large quantities (e.g. bread). People also add salt to food when cooking (e.g., using beef broth, solid soup mixes, soy sauce and fish sauce) or at the table (e.g., using table salt). You can reduce your salt intake by: not adding salt, soy sauce or fish sauce to food preparation; not putting salt at the table; limiting salty snacks; and choosing foods that are lower in sodium. Some food manufacturers are adjusting recipes to reduce the salt content of foods. It is wise to check the sodium content on food labels before buying and consuming. The adverse effects of high sodium intake on blood pressure can be reduced by increasing potassium intake through the consumption of more fruits and vegetables. Sugar The intake of free sugars should be reduced throughout the life course. Evidence suggests that adults and children should not consume more than 10% of total energy from free sugars, and there are additional health benefits if they can reduce it to less than 5% of total energy. Free sugars are sugars added to foods or beverages by manufacturers, chefs or consumers, as well as sugars naturally occurring in honey, syrups, juices and concentrates. Consumption of free sugars can increase the risk of dental caries (tooth decay). Excess calorie intake from foods and beverages containing high levels of free sugars can also lead to undue weight gain, which may lead to overweight and obesity. You can reduce your sugar intake by limiting the consumption of foods and beverages that are high in sugar (e.g., sugary drinks, sweet snacks and candy) and by replacing sugary snacks with fruits and raw vegetables. How to promote healthy eating Diets change over time and are influenced by multiple factors and complex effects. Income, food prices (which can affect the availability and affordability of healthy foods), personal preferences and beliefs, cultural traditions, and geographic, environmental, social, and economic factors all interact in very complex ways to shape individual dietary patterns. Therefore, promoting a healthy food environment, including food systems that promote diverse, balanced, and healthy diets, requires the involvement of multiple sectors and stakeholders, including government and the public and private sectors. Governments can play a central role in creating a healthy food environment that promotes the adoption and maintenance of healthy eating habits. Effective actions for policymakers to create a healthy food environment include: 1. Aligning national policies and investment programs, including trade, food, and agricultural policies, to promote healthy eating and protect public health: Further encouraging producers and retailers to grow, use, and sell fresh fruits and vegetables; Discouraging the food industry from continuing or increasing the production of processed foods using saturated fats and free sugars; Encouraging adjustments to Ensure that healthy, safe, and affordable food is available in preschools, schools, other public institutions, and workplaces, thereby establishing standards for promoting healthy eating habits; Explore regulatory and voluntary tools to promote healthy eating Encourage multinational, national, and local food services and eating outlets to improve the nutritional quality of their foods, ensure the availability and affordability of healthy food options, and check shares and prices. 2. encourage consumers to demand healthy foods and meals by: increasing consumer awareness of healthy eating; developing school policies and planning to encourage children to adopt and maintain healthy eating habits; educating children, adolescents and adults about nutrition and healthy eating practices; encouraging mastery of cooking skills, including teaching in schools; supporting the dissemination of information at the point of sale, including printing and labeling, in accordance with Codex Alimentarius Commission guidelines Appropriate food labeling to ensure accurate, standardized and understandable information on food ingredients. Provide nutrition and diet counseling in primary health care settings. 3. Promote appropriate infant and young child feeding practices. Implement the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent relevant resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly. Implement policies and practices that promote the protection of working mothers. Promote, protect and support breastfeeding in health services and communities, including the implementation of baby-friendly hospital programs. WHO Response The World Health Assembly adopted the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health in 2004. The Strategy calls on governments, WHO, international partners, the private sector and civil society to take action at the global, regional and local levels to promote healthy eating and physical activity. In 2010, the WHO General Assembly adopted a set of recommendations on the marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children. These recommendations guide countries in developing new policies and improving existing policies to reduce the impact on children of the marketing of unhealthy foods. WHO also assisted in the development of a nutrition profile model to help countries implement these food marketing recommendations. In 2012, the WHO Assembly adopted a comprehensive maternal, infant and young child nutrition implementation plan and six global nutrition targets to be completed by 2015, including reducing stunting, wasting and overweight in children, improving breastfeeding, and reducing anemia and low birth weight levels. In 2013, the World Health Assembly endorsed nine voluntary global targets for the prevention and control of NCDs, including halting the rise of diabetes and obesity and reducing salt intake by 30 percent relative to each other by 2025. “The Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases 2013-2020 provides guidance and policy options to Member States, WHO and other UN agencies to achieve these targets. In light of the current rapid rise in infant and childhood obesity in many countries, WHO established a Commission on Childhood Obesity in May 2014. The committee will draft a report on what approaches and actions may be most effective in different settings around the world. In November 2014, WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) jointly organized the Second International Conference on Nutrition. This conference adopted the Rome Declaration on Nutrition and a Framework for Action, which recommends a range of policy options and strategies to promote diverse, safe and healthy diets at all stages of life. WHO is helping countries implement the commitments made at the Second International Conference on Nutrition.