Food-Based Dietary Guidelines in the World and Turkey: Sustainable Nutrition Approach and G20 Countries

Abstract

Healthy nutrition is certainly critical to the health, well-being, economic growth and prosperity of individuals and communities. Access to a healthy diet is a fundamental human right. In addition, the consumption of healthy diets is produced by sustainable food systems. Improved nutrition is, therefore, a critical element in achieving all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Increasing the awareness and nutrition education of the individuals and population during life cycle is important. Food-based dietary guidelines depending on evidence-based data, help the subject and population to make healthy food choices and healthy nutrition. Food-based dietary guidelines should be appropriate for the country conditions, regional differences and consider sustainable nutrition. EAT-Lancet Commission in 2019 recommended to policymakers, food industry and the public to adopt a “Planetary Health Diet” to support sustainable food systems. A planetary health diet recommends that people eat more minimally processed, plant-rich foods including whole grains, fruits and vegetables, legumes and nuts and fish, modest amounts of animal-source proteins, and limited amounts of unsaturated plant oils and added sugars. For this purpose, it was recommended in many publications that the food-based dietary guidelines of the G20 countries should be developed and updated to prevent the diet-related chronic diseases, to prevent the negative effects of climate change on health and environment. Turkey Dietary Guideline 2015 was prepared and Turkey Nutrition and Health Survey 2022 was updated depending on country nutritional status and problems, cultural preferences, nutritional habits and healthy sustainable nutrition. This paper is prepared depending on international literature evaluating national food-based dietary guidelines all over the world and to emphasize the important stage that Turkey food-based dietary guideline reached.