Food Pyramid Published By The WHO and FAO Joint Expert Consultation
The World Health Organization, in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization, published guidelines that can effectively be represented in a food pyramid relating to objectives to prevent obesity, chronic diseases and dental caries based on meta-analysis though they represent it as a table rather than a "pyramid". The structure is similar in some respects to the USDA food pyramid, but there are clear distinctions between types of fats, and a more dramatic distinction where carbohydrates are split on the basis of free sugars versus sugars in their natural form. Some food substances are singled out due to the impact on the target issues the "pyramid" is meant to address, while in a later revision, some recommendations are omitted since they follow automatically from other recommendations while other sub-categories are added. The reports quoted here explain that where there is no stated lower limit in the table below, there is no requirement for that nutrient in the diet.
| Dietary factor | 1989 WHO Study Group recommendations | 2002 Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation recommendations |
|---|---|---|
| Total fat | 15 – 30% | 15 – 30% |
| Saturated fatty acids (SFAs) | 0–10% | <10% |
| Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) | 3–7% | 6–10% |
| n-6 PUFAs | 5–8% | |
| n-3 PUFAs | 1–2% | |
| Trans fatty acids | <1% | |
| Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) | By difference | |
| Total carbohydrate | 55–75% | 55–75% |
| Free sugars | 0–10% | <10% |
| Complex carbohydrate | 50–70% | No recommendation |
| Protein | 10–15% | 10–15% |
| Cholesterol | 0–300 mg/day | <300 mg/da |
| Sodium chloride (Sodium) | <6 g/day | <5 g/day (<2 g/day) |
| Fruits and vegetables | ≥400g/day | ≥400g/day |
| Pulses, nuts and seeds | ≥30 g/day (as part of the 400 g of fruit and vegetables) | |
| Total dietary fibre | 27–40g/day | From foods |
| NSP | 16–24g/day | From foods |
The representation as a pyramid is not precise, and involves variations due to the alternative percentages of different elements, but the main sections can be represented. Note that the percentages expressed are by energy (joules or calories) and not by weight, hence free sugars, for example, since they are, by definition, more refined, should be significantly lower than 10% of intake when measured in food compared to other carbohydrates (those still in their natural form).
Read more about this topic: Food Guide Pyramid
Famous quotes containing the words food, pyramid, published, joint, expert and/or consultation:
“Would mankind be but contented without the continual use of that little but significant pronoun “mine” or “my own,” with what luxurious delight might they revel in the property of others!... But if envy makes me sicken at the sight of everything that is excellent out of my own possession, then will the sweetest food be sharp as vinegar, and every beauty will in my depraved eyes appear as deformity.”
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)
“So universal and widely related is any transcendent moral greatness, and so nearly identical with greatness everywhere and in every age,—as a pyramid contracts the nearer you approach its apex,—that, when I look over my commonplace-book of poetry, I find that the best of it is oftenest applicable, in part or wholly, to the case of Captain Brown.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Our fear that Communism might some day take over most of the world blinds us to the fact that anti-communism already has.”
—Anonymous U.S. Analyst In 1967. Quoted in “The Uses of Anticommunism,” vol. 21, published in The Socialist Register (1985)
“There is no such thing as “the Queen’s English.” The property has gone into the hands of a joint stock company and we own the bulk of the shares!”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Do you know what Agelisas said, when he was asked why the great city of Lacedomonie was not girded with walls? Because, pointing out the inhabitants and citizens of the city, so expert in military discipline and so strong and well armed: “Here,” he said, “are the walls of the city,” meaning that there is no wall but of bones, and that towns and cities can have no more secure nor stronger wall than the virtue of their citizens and inhabitants.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)
“To divide one’s life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry on its dull wall-existence by the arbitrary timetables we have drawn up in consultation with those permanent commuters, Earth and Sun. But we, unlike trees, need grow no annual rings.”
—Clifton Fadiman (b. 1904)