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WHO
Releases Independent Expert Report on Diet and Chronic Disease
A diet low in energy-dense foods that are high in saturated
fats and sugars, and abundant in fruit and vegetables, together
with an active lifestyle are among the key measures to combat
chronic disease recommended in an independent Expert Report
prepared for two UN agencies.
The report, commissioned by the World Health Organization
(WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), from
a team of global experts, aims to identify new recommendations
for governments on diet and exercise to tackle the ever
increasing number of people who die each year from chronic
diseases. The burden of chronic diseases which include cardiovascular
diseases, cancers, diabetes and obesity is rapidly increasing
worldwide. In 2001, chronic diseases contributed approximately
59% of the 56.5 million total reported deaths in the world
and 46%of the global burden of disease.
This Expert Report is highly significant because it contains
the best currently available scientific evidence on the
relationship of diet, nutrition and physical activity to
chronic diseases, based on the collective judgement of a
group of experts with a global perspective, said Dr Ricardo
Uauy, Head of the University of Chile's Institute of Nutrition
and Food Technology, and Professor of Public Health Nutrition
at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine,
who chaired the Expert Group.
The Report includes advice on ways of changing daily nutritional
intake and increasing energy expenditure by:
reducing energy-rich foods high in saturated fat and sugar;
cutting the amount of salt in the diet;
increasing the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables in the
diet.
undertaking moderate-intensity physical activity for at
least an hour a day.
The Report, based on the analysis of the best available
current evidence and the collective judgement of 30 experts,
emphasizes that energy consumed each day should match energy
expenditure.
Evidence suggests that excessive consumption of energy-rich
foods can encourage weight gain, the report says and calls
for a limit in the consumption of saturated and trans fats,
sugars and salt in the diet, noting they are often found
in snacks, processed foods and drinks.
The quality of fats and oils in a diet, as well as the
amount of salt consumed, the report says, can also have
an influence on cardiovascular diseases such as strokes
and heart attacks.
The Expert Report is released as WHO prepares a Global
Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health following
a May 2002 World Health Assembly resolution from its Member
States.
The Expert Report will be formally published in April as
a WHO/FAO technical report together with an evaluation by
the Organizations and outlines of actions to implement the
recommendations. The Report will be a critical science-based
contribution to the development of the Global Strategy,
aimed at reducing the growing burden of disease related
to cardiovascular diseases, several forms of cancer, diabetes,
obesity, osteoporosis and dental disease.
FAO supports WHO in developing its Global Strategy. As
a follow-up to the Report's findings, FAO will undertake
work on identifying information needs and monitoring diets,
and on assessing the implications of the Report's recommendations
for all aspects of the food chain as well as for agricultural
and trade policies.
The report will form the basis for national and regional
bodies to develop specific guidelines on diet and exercise
for their local communities.
The report provides goals for dietary components and physical
activity levels consistent with good health and the prevention
of the major nutrition related chronic diseases, coronary
heart disease and hypertension, cancer, diabetes, obesity,
osteoporotic fractures, and dental diseases, Uauy said.
Urbanization and the rise of chronic diseases
Many of the deaths attributed to chronic diseases are due
to risk factors that could easily be prevented such as:
high blood pressure;
high cholesterol levels;
obesity;
low levels of physical activity.
More and more people in the developing world are suffering
from chronic disease, a seismic shift from a few decades
ago when chronic disease was associated with the rich, developed
world. Increased urbanization as rural people abandon their
land and move towards the cities -- plays a large part in
this change, according to the report.
City-dwellers are more likely to consume energy-dense diets
high in saturated fat and in refined carbohydrates. This
sudden change in diet, combined with a sedentary lifestyle,
is having a drastic effect on the urban poor.
Not all fats or all carbohydrates are the same; it pays
to know the difference, said Dr Uauy, adding, People should
eat less high-calorie foods, especially foods high in saturated
fat and sugar, be physically active, prefer unsaturated
for saturated fat and use less salt; enjoy fruits, vegetables
and legumes and prefer foods of plant and marine origin..
A diet rich in fruit and vegetables containing immune-system
boosting micronutrients could also help the body's natural
defences against infectious diseases, Uauy said.
The Expert Report's specific recommendations on diet include
limiting fat to between 15 and 30 percent of total daily
energy intake and saturated fats to less than 10 percent
of this total.
Carbohydrates, the report suggests, should provide the
bulk of energy requirements between 55 and 75 percent of
daily intake and free sugars should remain beneath 10 percent.
Protein should make up a further 10-15 percent of calorie
intake and salt should be restricted to less than 5 grams
a day. Intake of fruit and vegetables should be plumped
up to reach at least 400 grams a day.
The report underlines the fact that chronic diseases are
not only caused by overeating but also by eating an unbalanced
diet, citing the influence of high salt consumption on increasing
blood pressure and saturated fats contributing to high levels
of cholesterol.
Physical activity is a key factor in determining the amount
of energy used each day and is therefore fundamental to
energy balance and weight control. One hour per day of moderate-intensity
activity, such as walking, on most days of the week, is
needed to maintain a healthy body weight, especially for
those people who spend most of their time sitting down,
according to the Expert Report.
WHO and FAO hope the report's findings will provide member
states with solid evidence to prepare national health strategies.
The Expert Report urges national governments to aim for
dietary guidelines that are simple, realistic and food-based.
Finland and Japan, countries that have actively intervened
in the diet and nutritional behaviour of their populations,
have witnessed dramatic decreases in risk factors and plunging
rates of chronic disease, the Report says.
Recognising that chronic diseases are preventable, addressing
the issues and creating an environment which supports health,
the Report says, is the key to reducing rates of deaths
and disability from chronic diseases. The process should
establish working relationships between communities and
governments, encourage local initiatives affecting schools
and the workplace and also involve the food industry, the
report says.
Download the entire PDF
report
Reference Source: WHO
Net Reference 76
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