A healthy diet helps prevent all types of malnutrition as well as non-communicable diseases including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Important Facts
A healthy diet helps prevent all types of malnutrition as well as non-communicable diseases including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Unhealthy diets 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 (calorie) intake and expenditure should be balanced. To avoid excess weight, total fat intake should not exceed 30% of total energy (1, 2, 3). Saturated fat intake should be less than 10% of total energy and trans fat intake should not exceed 1% of total energy, and there should be a shift in fat intake from saturated and trans fats to unsaturated fats (3), and the goal is to eliminate industrially produced trans fats (4, 5, 6).
In a healthy diet, free sugar intake needs to be limited to less than 10% of total energy intake (2, 7). For additional health benefits, it is recommended to further reduce the intake of free sugars to less than 5% of total energy intake (7).
Limiting salt intake to less than 5 g per day (equivalent to a daily sodium intake of no more than 2 g) would help prevent hypertension and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke in adults (8).
WHO Member States agreed to reduce salt intake by 30% of the global population by 2025; they also agreed to halt the rising trend of diabetes and obesity in adults and adolescents and excess weight in childhood by 2025 (9, 10).

Overview
Maintaining a healthy diet throughout the life course can help prevent various types of malnutrition and a range of non-communicable diseases and conditions. However, with the increasing amount of processed foods, rapid urbanization, and evolving lifestyles, people’s eating patterns have changed. People now consume more foods rich in energy, fat, free sugars, and salt/sodium, and many do not consume enough fruits, vegetables, and other dietary fiber (e.g., whole grains).

The exact composition of a diverse, balanced, and healthy diet varies with individual circumstances (e.g., age, gender, lifestyle, and physical activity level), cultural background, locally available foods, and dietary practices. However, the basic principles that make up a healthy diet remain the same.

Adults
A healthy diet includes the following foods.

Fruits, vegetables, legumes (e.g., hamachi beans and pods, etc.), nuts, and whole legumes (e.g., unprocessed corn, millet, oats, barley, brown rice).
Consume at least 400 g (i.e., 5 types) of fruits and vegetables per day (2), excluding potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, and other starchy root foods.
Less than 10% of the total energy intake comes from free sugars (2, 7), which is equivalent to 50 g (or about 12 teaspoons) for an individual consuming about 2000 calories per day and of normal weight. Ideally, however, it should be less than 5% of total energy intake to obtain additional health benefits (7). Free sugars are all sugars added to foods or beverages by manufacturers, chefs or consumers, as well as those naturally occurring in honey, syrups, juices and concentrates.
Fat intake accounts for less than 30% of total energy (1, 2, 3). Unsaturated fats (from fish, avocados, nuts, sunflower oil, soy, canola and olive oils, etc.) are preferred over saturated fats (from fatty meats, butter, palm and coconut oils, cream, cheese, ghee and lard, etc.) and all types of trans fats, including industrially produced trans fats (from baked and fried foods, pre-packaged snacks and foods such as frozen pizza, pies, cookies, crackers, pancakes cookies, crackers, pancakes, cooking oils and spreads for food products) and mammalian trans fats (found in mammalian meat and dairy products such as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, etc.). It is recommended to reduce the intake of saturated fats to less than 10% of total energy intake and trans fats to less than 1% of total energy intake (5). In particular, industrially produced trans fats are not part of a healthy diet and should be avoided (4, 6).
Salt intake should be less than 5 g per day (equivalent to about one teaspoon) (8). Table salt should be iodized.
Infants and young children
Proper nutrition during the first 2 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 noncommunicable diseases later in life.

Recommendations for a healthy diet for infants and children are similar to those for adults, but the following factors are also important.

Infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life.
Infants should be breastfed continuously until 2 years of age or beyond.
After 6 months of age, breastfeeding should be accompanied by the addition of an appropriate variety of nutritionally adequate, safe and thick foods. Salt and sugar should not be added to complementary foods.
Practical suggestions for maintaining a healthy diet
Fruits and vegetables
Consuming at least 400 g or five servings of fruits and vegetables daily will reduce the risk of NCDs (2) and help ensure adequate daily intake of dietary fiber.

Methods that can be used to increase fruit and vegetable intake include

Dishes are always accompanied by vegetables.
consuming fresh fruits and raw vegetables as a snack.
Consuming fresh fruits and vegetables in season.
Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Fats
Adults who reduce their total fat intake to less than 30% of total energy will help prevent excess weight (1, 2, 3). The risk of developing NCDs can also be reduced by

Reducing saturated fat intake to less than 10% of total energy.
Reducing trans fats to less than 1% of total energy intake.
Replacing saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fats (2, 3), and especially by replacing them with polyunsaturated fats.
Fat intake, especially saturated fats and industrially produced trans fats, can be reduced by

Cooking by steaming or boiling, rather than frying.
Replacing cream, lard and ghee with oils rich in polyunsaturated fats such as soybean, canola, corn, safflower and sunflower oils.
consuming reduced-fat dairy products and lean meats, or removing overly fatty meats.
Limiting consumption of baked or fried foods, and prepackaged snacks and foods containing industrially produced trans fats (e.g., donuts, cakes, pies, cookies, crackers, and pancakes).
Salt, sodium and potassium
Most people consume too much sodium through salt (equivalent to an average daily intake of 9-12 grams of salt) and not enough potassium (less than 3.5 grams). Excessive sodium intake and insufficient potassium intake can lead to hypertension, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease and stroke (8, 11).

Reducing salt intake to less than the recommended 5 grams per day could prevent 1.7 million deaths per year (12).

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 usually consumed in large quantities (e.g. bread). People also add salt to food during cooking (e.g., broths, solid soups, soy sauce, and fish sauce) or during consumption (e.g., refined salt).

Methods that can be used to reduce salt intake include

limiting the amount of salt and high-sodium seasonings (e.g., soy sauce, fish sauce, and broth) used in cooking and processing foods
not serving salt or other high-sodium condiments at the dinner table.
Limiting the consumption of salty snacks.
Choosing products that are lower in sodium.
Some food manufacturers are adjusting their recipes to reduce the sodium content of their products. People should be encouraged to check nutrition labels to know the sodium content of products before buying or eating them.

Potassium can reduce the adverse effects of high sodium intake on blood pressure. Consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables may increase potassium intake.

Sugar
For both adults and children, free sugar intake should be reduced to less than 10% of total energy intake (2, 7). Reducing to less than 5% of total energy intake will provide additional health benefits (7).

Consumption of free sugars can increase the risk of dental caries (tooth decay). Excess caloric intake from foods and beverages containing high levels of free sugars can also lead to inappropriate weight gain, which may lead to overweight and obesity. Recent evidence also suggests that free sugars have an impact on blood pressure and blood lipids and suggests that reducing free sugar intake may reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease (13).

Methods that can be used to reduce sugar intake include

limiting consumption of foods and beverages with high sugar content, such as sugary snacks, candy, and sugary beverages (i.e., all types of beverages containing free sugars - including carbonated or non-carbonated soft drinks, fruit or vegetable juices and beverages, liquid and powdered concentrates, flavored water, energy and sports drinks, ready-to-drink tea, ready-to-drink coffee, and flavored dairy drinks)
Consume fresh fruits and raw vegetables as snacks rather than sugary snacks.
How to promote healthy eating
Diets change over time and are influenced by multiple social and economic factors. These factors interact in very complex ways to shape individual dietary patterns. These factors include income, food prices (which affect the availability and affordability of healthy foods), personal preferences and beliefs, cultural traditions, and geographic and environmental factors (including climate change). Thus, 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 healthy food environments that enable people to adopt and maintain healthy eating habits. Effective actions by policymakers to create a healthy food environment include the following.

Aligning national policies and investment plans, including trade, food and agricultural policies, to promote healthy eating and protect public health by
Further encouraging producers and retailers to grow, use, and sell fresh fruits and vegetables.
Discourage the food industry from continuing or increasing production of processed foods that contain high levels of saturated fat, trans fat, free sugars, and salt/sodium.
Encourage the adaptation of food formulations to reduce the levels of saturated fat, trans fat, free sugars and salt/sodium with the goal of eliminating industrially produced trans fats.
Implement the WHO recommendations on the marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children.
Establish standards for promoting healthy eating habits by ensuring that healthy, nutritious, safe and affordable food is available in preschools, schools, other public institutions and in the workplace.
Explore regulatory and voluntary tools (e.g., marketing regulations and nutrition labeling policies) and economic incentives or disincentives (e.g., taxes, subsidies) used 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 portion sizes and prices.
Encourage consumers to make healthy food and meal requests 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 them to children in schools.
Supporting the dissemination of information at the point of sale, including (in accordance with Codex Alimentarius Commission guidelines) the printing of appropriate nutrition labels and the inclusion of explanatory labels on the front of packages that help consumers understand and ensure that accurate, standardized and understandable information on food ingredients is provided.
Provide nutrition and diet counseling at primary health care facilities.
Promote appropriate feeding practices for infants and young children by
Implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent relevant resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly.
Implementing relevant policies and practices to promote the protection of working mothers
Promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding in health services and communities, including the implementation of baby-friendly hospital initiatives.
WHO’s response
The WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health was adopted by the Health Assembly in 2004 (14). 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 Health Assembly adopted a set of recommendations on the marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children (15). These recommendations can guide countries in developing new policies and improving existing policies to reduce the impact on children of the marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children. WHO has also developed region-specific tools (e.g., regional nutrition profile models) for countries to implement these food marketing recommendations.

In 2012, the Health Assembly adopted a Comprehensive Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition Implementation Plan and six global nutrition targets, including reducing stunting, wasting and overweight in children, improving breastfeeding, and reducing anemia and low birth weight (9).

In 2013, the Health Assembly endorsed nine voluntary global targets for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. These goals include halting the rise in diabetes and obesity by 2025 and reducing salt intake by 30% in relative terms. The Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases 2013-2020 (10) provides guidance and policy options to Member States, WHO and other UN agencies to achieve these targets.

The rapid rise in infant and childhood obesity now occurring in many countries led WHO to establish a Commission to End Childhood Obesity in May 2014. in 2016, the Commission produced a series of recommendations for successfully addressing childhood and adolescent obesity in different contexts around the world (16).

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 (17) as well as a Framework for Action (18), 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.

In May 2018, the Health Assembly approved the 13th Master Plan of Work, which will guide WHO’s work for the period 2019-2023 (19). Reducing salt/sodium intake and eliminating industrially produced trans-fats from the food supply have been identified in the Master Plan as part of WHO’s priority actions to achieve the goal of “ensuring healthy lifestyles for the well-being of people of all ages”. To support and facilitate Member States to accelerate the necessary actions to eliminate industrially produced trans fats, WHO has developed a roadmap for countries (i.e., the REPLACE Action Programme) (6).

References
(1) Hooper L, Abdelhamid A, Bunn D, Brown T, Summerbell CD, Skeaff CM. Effects of total fat intake on body weight. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015; (8): CD011834.

(2) Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases: report of a Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation. WHO Technical Report Series, No. 916. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2003.

(3) Fats and fatty acids in human nutrition: report of an expert consultation. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; 2010.

(4) Nishida C, Uauy R. WHO scientific update on health consequences of trans fatty acids: introduction. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009; 63 Suppl 2:S1- Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009; 63 Suppl 2:S1- 4.

(5) Guidelines: Saturated fatty acid and trans-fatty acid intake for adults and children. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018 (Draft issued for public