WHO Launch Expert Report on Diet, Nutrition and Prevention of Chronic Diseases
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23 April 2003
WHO LAUNCH EXPERT REPORT ON DIET, NUTRITION AND PREVENTION OF CHRONIC
DISEASES
Rome, 23, April 2003 --The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
and the World Health Organization (WHO) today launched an independent
expert report on diet, which will serve as the basis for developing a
global strategy to combat the growing burden of chronic diseases.
Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases, the report on
a two-year-long Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation, was formally is-
sued by the heads of the two agencies, who called for close coopera-
tion to help meet the challenge.
The Expert Report contains the best currently available scientific
evidence on the relationship of diet, nutrition and physical activity
to chronic diseases. The Report examines cardiovascular diseases,
several forms of cancer, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and dental
disease. The burden of chronic diseases is rapidly increasing; in
2001, they contributed approximately 59 per cent of the 56.5 million
total reported deaths in the world and 46 per cent of the global bur-
den of disease. The Report concludes that a diet low in saturated
fats, sugars and salt, and high in vegetables and fruits, together
with regular physical activity, will have a major impact on combating
this high toll of death and disease.
All countries must act more decisively to prevent chronic diseases by
supporting healthier diet and physical activity behaviours. Most de-
veloping countries simply do not have the resources in their health
systems, and cannot afford to manage the growing burden of chronic
disease in addition to their existing health problems, say the agen-
cies.
"Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, obesity - these are no
longer rich country problems," says Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Direc-
tor-General of WHO. "The majority of chronic disease cases are occur-
ring in the developing world. Our experience shows us that even mod-
est, but population-wide interventions on diet and physical activity,
can produce significant changes in the overall chronic disease burden
in a surprisingly short time. The Report is significant because we
will be using it as the critical science-based foundation for the WHO
Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, which we are
preparing to address this growing chronic disease burden."
The agencies stressed that solutions to the global surge in chronic
diseases would require stronger linkages between those involved in
health and agriculture, at global, regional and national levels.
"This report will help both FAO and WHO devise strategies to promote
nutritious diets and healthier eating habits," says FAO Director-
General Jacques Diouf. "Today, only a minority of people in the world
are eating the amounts of fruit and vegetables recommended by this
report. Our organizations are facing a strong challenge on how to in-
crease supplies of fruits and vegetables in a way that will allow all
people everywhere in the world to have access to them."
The FAO/WHO Joint Expert Report is based on the collective judgement
of a group of 30 independent experts with a global perspective, who
worked with around 30 of their peers to review the best currently
available evidence on diet, nutrition and its effects on chronic dis-
eases. The Report's specific recommendations on diet include limiting
fat to between 15 and 30 per cent of total daily energy intake, and
saturated fats to less than 10 per cent. The Report suggests that
carbohydrates should provide the bulk of energy requirements - be-
tween 55 and 75 per cent of daily intake, but that free (i.e. added)
sugars should remain beneath 10 per cent. Daily intake of salt, which
should be iodized, should be restricted to less than 5 grams a day,
while the intake of fruit and vegetables should be at least 400
grams. The recommended protein intake is 10-to-15 per cent. It also
notes that physical activity is a key factor in determining the
amount of energy spent each day and is 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.
"We have known for a long time that foods high in saturated fats,
sugars, and salt, are unhealthy; that we are, globally, increasing
our intake of energy-dense, nutritionally poor food as our lives be-
come increasingly sedentary," says Dr Brundtland. "And that these
factors - together with tobacco use - are the leading causes of the
great surge we have seen in the incidence of chronic diseases. What
is new, is that we are laying down the foundation for a global policy
response."
WHO Member States see this as a priority health issue, she says. Mem-
ber States specifically asked WHO to develop the Global Strategy in
consultation and collaboration with all of the major stakeholders in-
volved in food, diet, physical activity and chronic disease. Food and
related companies are a critical element in developing a long-term
solution, says Dr Brundtland, noting that she will be meeting next
month with senior executives from a number of major food and beverage
companies, and also with representatives of the key professional and
consumer NGOs. All of this input will be considered in developing the
Global Strategy, to be finalized for the WHO Executive Board in Janu-
ary 2004.
"The combined energy, resources and expertise of all the relevant UN
agencies, health and nutrition professionals, the private sector and
civil society, will be essential to sustained progress. We have made
this process as transparent and inclusive as possible, while remain-
ing committed to our constitutional mandate to improve global public
health," says Dr Brundtland. "Our primary responsibility remains to
our Member States and their people. Our consultations with them so
far have reaffirmed both the importance of what we are doing, and the
range of different problems developing countries in particular face."
The two agencies note that creating an environment in which the
healthy choice is the easy choice has significant implications for
consumer information and labelling and for education and recreation.
It also has important consequences for agricultural production and
processing methods as well as trade. It is for this reason that the
two agencies have committed to working closely on diet and chronic
disease prevention.
According to Dr Diouf, "This report by independent experts contains a
number of very interesting recommendations. They require FAO to exam-
ine trends in consumption patterns to assess how these dietary trends
would need to be altered in response to the recommendations and how
the food and agricultural sectors worldwide can adjust to these
needs. We will also need to assess what implications this will have
for production and trade."
Dr. Diouf said the Report would be presented, together with FAO's re-
sponse to its findings, to the Organization's governing bodies as
soon as possible. This would include an analysis of the impact of the
recommendations on consumers and farmers in developing countries,
many of whom are poor and undernourished.
Dr Brundtland concluded: "Long-term progress will take time. We need
to look decades ahead, and make a commitment now, to the health of
our current and future generations throughout the globe. The work we
are embarked upon could lead to one of the largest positive shifts in
population health ever undertaken."
For an ADVANCE FINAL DRAFT COPY see:
http://www.who.int/hpr/nutrition/ExpertConsultationGE.htm
or download the report as Adobe PDF file (116 pp. 404 kB) at:
http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/who_fao_expert_report.pdf
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