WHO/FAO
release independent Expert Report on diet and chronic disease
Less
saturated fats, sugar and salt, more fruit and vegetables and physical exercise,
needed to counter cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and obesity
3 March 2003 | GENEVA/ROME
-- 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.
Media Contact Numbers:
WHO
Dr Derek Yach, Executive
Director, Noncommunicable Diseases & Mental Health (41-22) 791-2736
(o); (41) 79-217-3404 (m)
Dr Pekka Puska, Director,
Noncommunicable Diseases & Health Promotion (41-22) 791-4703 (o); (41)
79-254-6845 (m)
Dr Chizuru Nishida; Nutrition
Department (41-22) 791-3317 (o); (41) 79-249-3549 (m)
David Porter, Media Officer
(41) 791-3774 (o); (41) 79-775-8914 (m)
Members of the Expert
Group
Professor Ricardo Uauy,
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK (Expert Group Chair)
(n:b: Spanish and English speaker) (44) 207-299-4665 (o); (91) 44-499-4101
(Mar 3-7); (44) 207-636-9456 (Mar 7-8)
Professor Shiriki Kumanyika
(Vice Chair) Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University
of Pennsylvania, USA (1) 215-898-2629 (o); (1) 215 438-9494 (h); (1) 267-252-1642
(m)
Professor Jaap Seidell
(Rapporteur) National Institute of Public Health & the Environment,
The Netherlands (31) 20-444-6995 (o); (31) 6-1339-3030 (m)
Professor Boyd Swinburn
School of Health Sciences, Deakin University, Australia (61) 3-9251-7096
(o); (61) 407-539-941 (m)
Professor Jim Mann Department
of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, New Zealand (64) 3-479-7959 (o)
Dr Nelia Steyn Chronic
Diseases of Lifestyle, Medical Research Council, South Arica (27)21-938-0242
(o); (27)83-415-1454 (m)
Nick Parsons, Chief, News
and Multimedia Service, FAO, (39) 06-5705-3276 (o); (39)348-257-2920 (m)
