Description
Eating healthy can significantly reduce a number of diseases for e.g. the risk of heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, etc.
A healthy diet includes the following:
For infants and young children
In the first 2 years of a child’s life, optimal nutrition fosters healthy growth and improves cognitive development. It also reduces the risk of becoming overweight or obese and developing NCDs later in life.
Advice on a healthy diet for infants and children is similar to that for adults, but the following elements are also important:
Practical advise on maintaining a healthy diet:
Fruits and vegetables
Eating at least 400g, or five portions, of fruit and vegetables per day reduces the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and helps to ensure an adequate daily intake of dietary fibre.
Fruits and vegetables intake can be improved by:
Fats
Reducing the amount of total fat intake to less than 30% of total energy intake helps to prevent unhealthy weight gain in the adult population.
Fat intake, especially saturated fat and industrially-produced trans-fat intake, can be reduced by:
Salt, sodium and potassium
Most people consume too much sodium through salt (corresponding to consuming an average of 9–12g of salt per day) and not enough potassium (less than 3.5g). High sodium intake and insufficient potassium intake contribute to high blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Salt intake can be reduced by:
Sugars
Consuming free sugars increases the risk of dental caries (tooth decay). Excess calories from foods and drinks high in free sugars also contribute to unhealthy weight gain, which can lead to overweight and obesity. Recent evidence also shows that free sugars influence blood pressure and serum lipids and suggests that a reduction in free sugars intake reduces risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.
Sugar intake can be reduced by: