A new approach to fats and carbohydrates for better health

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has updated its guidance on total fat, saturated and trans fat, and carbohydrates based on the latest scientific evidence.

The three new guidelines, saturated fatty acid and trans-fatty acid intake for adults and children, total fat intake for the prevention of unhealthy weight gain in adults and children, and carbohydrate intake for adults and children, contain recommendations that aim to reduce the risk of unhealthy weight gain and diet-related noncommunicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain types of cancer.

With its guidance on dietary fat, the WHO notes that both quantity and quality are important for good health. WHO reaffirms that adults should limit total fat intake to 30% of total energy intake or less. Fat consumed by everyone 2 years of age and older should be primarily unsaturated fatty acids, with no more than 10% of total energy intake coming from saturated fatty acids and no more than 1% of total energy intake coming from trans-fatty acids from both industrially produced and ruminant animal sources.

Saturated and trans-fatty acids in the diet can be replaced with other nutrients such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids from plant sources, or carbohydrates from foods containing naturally occurring dietary fibre, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and pulses.

Saturated fatty acids can be found in fatty meat, dairy foods, and hard fats and oils such as butter, ghee, lard, palm oil, and coconut oil, and trans-fatty acids in baked and fried foods, pre-packaged snacks, and meat and dairy foods from ruminant animals, such as cows or sheep.

Together with WHO's existing guidance to limit free sugar intake, the new guidance on carbohydrate intake highlights the importance of carbohydrate quality for good health. WHO provides a new recommendation that carbohydrate intake for everyone 2 years of age and older should come primarily from whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and pulses. WHO recommends that adults consume at least 400 grammes of vegetables and fruits and 25 grammes of naturally occurring dietary fibre per day.

In first-time guidance for children and adolescents, WHO suggests the following intakes of vegetables and fruits:

• 2–5 years old, at least 250g per day

• 6–9 years old, at least 350g per day

• 10 years or older, at least 400g per day

And the following intakes of naturally occurring dietary fibre:

• 2–5 years old, at least 15g per day

• 6–9 years old, at least 21g per day

• 10 years or older, at least 25g per day