WHO and FAO to Promote Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables
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WHO AND FAO ANNOUNCE GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO PROMOTE CONSUMPTION OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Low fruit and vegetable intake a key risk factor for conditions
such as heart disease, cancer and obesity, but supply needs to be
improved to meet global needs
Geneva - World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Food and Ag-
riculture Organization (FAO) announced today a unified approach
to promote greater consumption of fruit and vegetables.
Low fruit and vegetable intake is estimated to cause some 2.7
million deaths each year, and was among the top 10 risk factors
contributing to mortality, according to the World Health Report
2002. The announcement was made in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the
annual meeting of the WHO Global Forum on Non-communicable Dis-
ease (NCD) Prevention and Control.
"There is strong and growing evidence that sufficient consumption
of fruits and vegetables helps prevent many diseases and promotes
good health, but large parts of the world's population consume
too little of these."
"FAO faces the challenge to increase worldwide awareness of the
health benefits of increased fruit and vegetable consumption. To
effectively promote more consumption of fruit and vegetables,
prevailing diets need to be more systematically assessed for
their nutrition and health implications."
"Accelerated national initiatives are required to produce and ef-
ficiently market more affordable horticulture products using less
pesticide and with fewer losses in the post harvest handling."
Non-communicable Diseases account for almost 60 per cent of
global deaths, and 45 per cent of the global burden of disease.
Unhealthy diet, together with physical inactivity and tobacco
use, are among the key preventable risk factors for NCDs. Suffi-
cient daily intake of fruit and vegetables could help prevent ma-
jor NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obe-
sity and certain cancers.
The joint fruit and vegetable promotion effort is being developed
within the framework of the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Ac-
tivity and Health. This effort is being developed in collabora-
tion with other global partners, including national "5-a-day"
type multi-stakeholder organizations, which promote fruit and
vegetable consumption.
A recently published report of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consulta-
tion on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases
recommends the intake of a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegeta-
bles per day (excluding starchy tubers such as potatoes) for the
prevention of chronic diseases including heart disease, cancer,
type 2 diabetes and obesity. Eating a wide variety of fruit and
vegetables helps ensure an adequate intake of most micronutri-
ents, dietary fibres and a host of beneficial non-nutrient sub-
stances, say the two UN agencies. Increased fruit and vegetable
consumption can also help displace excessive consumption of foods
high in fats, sugars or salt. However, according to the FAO sta-
tistical database, the total supply of fruit and vegetables is
far below the intake minimum target in many countries, especially
in Asia, Africa and in Eastern and Central Europe.
Low fruit and vegetable intake is estimated to cause about 31 per
cent of ischaemic heart disease and 11 per cent of stroke world-
wide. The WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
estimates that the preventable percentage of cancer due to low
fruit and vegetable intake ranges from 5-12 per cent for all can-
cers, and up to 20-30 per cent for upper gastrointestinal tract
cancers.
The joint fruit and vegetable promotion effort has four specific
objectives:
* To increase the overall awareness of the role of fruit and
vegetables in preventing NCD;
* To increase fruit and vegetable consumption through essential
public health and agricultural action;
* To encourage and support the development and implementation of
national fruit and vegetable promotion programmes, which are
sustainable, comprehensive, and which engage all sectors;
* To support research in relevant areas and develop the human
resources required to design and implement fruit and vegetable
promotion programmes.
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