 Our
Diet is Killing Us
A new report from the World
Health Organisation and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
says that poor diet and lack of exercise leading to the diseases
of obesity are becoming a growing global problem.
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 issued by the
heads of the two agencies, who called for close cooperation
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:
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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 burden 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 developing 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 agencies.
“Cardiovascular disease,
diabetes, cancers, obesity – these are no longer rich
country problems,” says Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General
of WHO. “The majority of chronic disease cases are
occurring in the developing world. Our experience shows
us that even modest, 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 increase supplies of fruits
and vegetables in a way that will allow all people everywhere
in the world to have access to them.”
The Report’s specific
recommendations on diet include:
- limiting fat to between
15 and 30 per cent of total daily energy intake
- saturated fats to less
than 10 per cent
- carbohydrates should provide
the bulk of energy requirements – between 55 and
75 per cent of daily intake
- 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
- 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
become 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. Member States specifically
asked WHO to develop the Global Strategy in consultation
and collaboration with all of the major stakeholders involved
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
January 2004.
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.
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."
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Copyright © 2003 Carol Fisher
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