A healthy diet helps to protect against
malnutrition in all its forms, as well as noncommunicable diseases
(NCDs), including such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity are leading global risks to health.
Healthy dietary practices start early in life –
breastfeeding fosters healthy growth and improves cognitive development,
and may have longer term health benefits such as reducing the risk of
becoming overweight or obese and developing NCDs later in life.
Energy intake (calories) should be in balance
with energy expenditure. To avoid unhealthy weight gain, total fat
should not exceed 30% of total energy intake (1, 2, 3). Intake of
saturated fats should be less than 10% of total energy intake, and
intake of trans-fats less than 1% of total energy intake, with a shift
in fat consumption away from saturated fats and trans-fats to
unsaturated fats (3), and towards the goal of eliminating
industrially-produced trans-fats (4, 5, 6).
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