New Food Guidelines Aim to Clarify What Constitutes a ‘Healthy’ Diet
The joint statement comes as the science on the effects of ultra processed foods continues to evolve.

Diets should be guided by four key principles, say the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) in a joint statement released this week. Their statement highlights the importance of adequate, balanced, moderate, and diverse food intake, and aims to clarify what exactly a healthy diet means. 

“With such prominence in the scientific literature and public media has come a range of definitions and perspectives about what constitute healthy diets, and how these can be achieved, while protecting the environment,” the FAO said in an introduction to the statement.

Unhealthy diets are a lead driver of non-communicable diseases like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

FAO and WHO released the statement alongside this year’s annual meeting of the Committee on World Food Security, where stakeholders gathered to strengthen policy responses to food crises, and the Convention on Biodiversity in Cali, Colombia.

Both events prompted the FAO and WHO to clarify the idea of a “healthy diet” while celebrating the “diversity of healthy dietary patterns.”  

Skirting questions about ultra-processed foods 

Unhealthy diets and foods
Ultra processed foods are linked to adverse health outcomes, yet it may take several more years for regulatory bodies to issue guidelines on UFP consumption.

Food intake should be adequate, balanced, moderate, and diverse, according to the statement. Diets should provide enough nutrients in a moderate and balanced way, with a wide-variety of nutrients across food groups. 

With daily media coverage of dietary advice, scientific studies on the ‘best’ diets, and the growing threat of climate change on food systems, the statement’s simple message consolidates several decades of scientific research

Yet the statement acknowledges that further research is needed before issuing recommendations, especially on ultra-processed foods (UFP), including sugar-sweetened beverages and desserts, dyed snacks, and processed meats. 

More than 50% of energy intake comes from UFP in high-income countries, and this trend increasingly mirrored in lower- and middle- income countries. 

“It’s probably going to take another several years to have a sufficient evidence base,” noted Dr JoAnn Manson, a physician and researcher at Harvard, in a recent STAT news article.

In the meantime, the WHO and FAO recommended “considering moderation” of UFP. Other regulatory bodies, including the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS), are set to issue their own dietary guidelines by the end of the year. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030, edition, will also likely not include definitive advice about UFP. 

Image Credits: Scott Warman/ Unsplash, Leon Ephraim/ Unsplash.

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