In response to a call from the 58th World Health Assembly (May 2005), World Health Organization
(WHO) established the Guidelines Review Committee (GRC) in 2007 with the purpose of developing
and implementing procedures to ensure that WHO guidelines are developed in ways consistent with
best practices, emphasizing the appropriate use of evidence. The processes described in the WHO
Handbook for guideline development have been adopted as of 1 January 2009. Additionally, as part of
implementing the outcomes and recommendations of the WHO Nutrition Programme Review
undertaken in 2008, the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development (NHD) has been
strengthening its role in providing evidence-informed policy and programme guidance to Member
States, in partnership with relevant internal departments and partners and guided by the new WHO
guideline development process. This normative mandate was reaffirmed through a request from the
63rd World Health Assembly (May 2010) “to strengthen the evidence base on effective and safe
nutrition actions to counteract the public health effects of the double burden of malnutrition, and to
describe good practices for successful implementation”
To implement the strengthening of evidence-informed nutrition guidance, the WHO Department of Nutrition for Health and Development (NHD) established in 2010 the WHO Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group (NUGAG) guided by the WHO Steering Committee for Nutrition Guidelines Development, which includes representatives from all Departments in WHO with an interest in the provision of recommendations in nutrition. Membership in NUGAG is for two years and NUGAG includes experts from various WHO Expert Advisory Panels as well as experts from a larger roster including those identified through open calls for experts, taking into consideration a balanced mix of genders, breadth in areas of expertise, and representation from all WHO Regions.
The NUGAG implements a biannual programme of work on these areas and has face-to-face meetings up to twice a year and will provide advice to WHO on the following:
- The scope of the guidelines and priority questions for which systematic reviews of evidence will be undertaken
- The choice of important outcomes for decision-making and developing recommendations
- The interpretation of the evidence with explicit consideration of the overall balance of risks and benefits
- The final formulation of recommendations, taking into account the quality of evidence generated and compiled as well as diverse values and preferences, costs, and feasibility
In 2010 – 2011, the NUGAG consisted of four subgroups: 1) micronutrients; 2) diet and health; 3) nutrition in life course and undernutrition, and 4) monitoring and evaluation. However, due to organizational changes implemented in NHD in January 2012 and in an effort to reduce the administrative burden of managing multiple subgroups, the number of NUGAG subgroups has been reduced to two: 1) diet and health; and 2) nutrition actions.
Starting the biannual work of 2014 – 2015, the NUGAG Subgroup on Diet and Health continued its work electronically following its 6th meeting hosted by the WHO Regional Office in Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark in October 2013, in order to further develop and finalize the pending systematic reviews to be ready for review at its 7th meeting to be held in Geneva in September 2014.
Updating of the dietary goals for the prevention of obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) has been the focus of the work of the NUGAG Subgroup on Diet and Health. Updating of the WHO guidelines on sugars and fatty acids (in particular saturated fatty acids and trans-fatty acids), following the recent update on the sodium and potassium guidelines, is an important element of WHO’s efforts in implementing the NCD agenda, which the Organization is strengthening and giving high priorities to. This will also contribute to the implementation of the Political Declaration of the UN High-level Meeting on NCD held in New York in September 2011 and the outcome document of the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on NCD (A/RES/68/300) held in New York in July 2014 as well as the implementation of the NCD Action Plan for 2013 – 2020 which was adopted by the 66th World Health Assembly held in May 2013. Furthermore, it will also provide inputs to the work of the high–level Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity established by the WHO DirectorGeneral in May 2014.
The Nutrition Policy and Scientific Advice (NPU) Unit in NHD serves as the Secretariat of the NUGAG Subgroup on Diet and Health and is convening the next meeting of the NUGAG Subgroup on Diet and Health in Geneva, Switzerland from 9 to 12 September 2014. It will be the 7th meeting of the NUGAG Subgroup on Diet and Health, following the six previous meetings which took place in Geneva in February 2010 and March 2011, in Seoul, the Republic of Korea in November 2011, in Geneva in March 2012, in Hangzhou, China in November 2012 and in October 2013, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The main objectives of the 7th meeting are to:
- Review the updated systematic reviews and evaluate the available evidence on the health effects and possible thresholds of saturated fatty acids (SFA) and trans-fatty acids (TFA)
- Formulate draft recommendations on SFA and TFA for the prevention of NCDs
- Review the issues related to replacement of SFA and TFA as public health measures related to diet, nutrition and health with a view of developing dietary guidance for the prevention of NCDs