2023-07-18 12:06:21
An adult should limit fat intake to 30% of total energy intake, or even less. And look carefully at the quality of the carbohydrates you choose to consume: whole grains, for example. From 10 years of age, at least 400 grams of fruit and vegetables should be placed on the plate. These are some of the main points contained in the guidelines on total, saturated and trans fats, and on carbohydrates, updated by the World Health Organization on the basis of the most recent scientific evidence.
The three new guidelines aim at “prevention of unhealthy weight gain” in adults and children and contain recommendations that aim to “reduce the risk of diet-related noncommunicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer”. With its guidance on dietary fat, WHO notes that both quantity and quality are important for good health. Reiterating the need to limit them to 30% of total energy intake, or less, it also specified that the fats consumed by everyone aged 2 and over should be mainly unsaturated fatty acids, “with no more than 10% of total energy intake from saturated fatty acids and not more than 1% from trans fatty acids from industrial products or ruminant animals”.
These can be replaced in the diet with other nutrients such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids from plant sources or carbohydrates from foods containing natural dietary fibre, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes. Saturated fatty acids can be found in fatty meats , dairy products, hard fats and oils such as butter, ghee, lard, palm oil and coconut oil, and trans fatty acids in baked and fried foods, prepackaged snack foods, and meat and dairy products from ruminant animals, such as cows or sheep”.
The new carbohydrate intake guide emphasizes the importance of carbohydrate quality for good health. In the document, WHO provides a new recommendation that carbohydrate intake for everyone aged 2 years and older should come primarily from whole grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes. It is particularly recommended that adults consume at least 400 grams of fruit and vegetables and 25 grams of natural dietary fiber per day.
In the first guide for children and adolescents, the WHO then suggests the following quantities of fruit and vegetables: in the 2-5 age range at least 250 grams a day; between 6 and 9 years at least 350 g per day; and at 10 years or more at least 400 g per day. For fibres: at least 15 grams in the 2-5 year range, at least 21 g per day in the 6-9 year range, at least 25 g per day at 10 years or more. “These new guidelines, together with existing guidelines on free sugars, non-sugar sweeteners and sodium, as well as upcoming guidelines on polyunsaturated fatty acids and low-sodium salt substitutes, support the concept of healthy diets,” WHO concludes.
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