Approaches to Defining Healthy Diets: A Background Paper for the International Expert Consultation on Sustainable Healthy Diets

摘要

Background: Healthy diets promote optimal growth and development and prevent malnutrition in allits forms, including undernutrition, obesity, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).Objective: This background paper for the International Expert Consultation on Sustainable HealthyDiets characterizes healthy diets and their implications for food system sustainability.Methods: Three complementary approaches to defining healthy diets are compared: World HealthOrganization (WHO) guidelines or recommendations developed between 1996 and 2019; 2017Global Burden of Disease (GBD) risk factor study estimates of diet-related risk–outcome associations;and analyses associating indices of whole dietary patterns with health outcomes in population studiesand clinical trials.Results: World Health Organization dietary recommendations are global reference points for preventing undernutrition and reducing NCD risks; they emphasize increasing intakes of fruits, vegetables(excepting starchy root vegetables), legumes, nuts, and whole grains; limiting energy intake from freesugars and total fats; consuming unsaturated rather than saturated or trans fats; and limiting salt intake.Global Burden of Disease findings align well with WHO recommendations but include some additionalrisk factors such as high consumption of processed meat; this approach quantifies contributions ofdiet-related risks to the NCD burden. Evidence on whole dietary patterns supports WHO and GBDfindings and raises concerns about potential adverse health effects of foods with high levels of industrialprocessing.