Preparation and use of food-based dietary guidelines: report of a joint FAO/WHO consultation

Overview

A Joint FAO/WHO Consultation on the Preparation and Use of Food-based Dietary Guidelines was convened in Nicosia, Cyprus from 2 to 7 March 1995.  The meeting was opened by Mr M. Christophides, Minister of Health of Cyprus.

The basic aim of the International Conference on Nutrition, convened by FAO and WHO in Rome in December 1992, was to identify and encourage the use of strategies and actions that improved nutritional well-being and food consumption throughout the world. It adopted the World Declaration and Plan of Action for Nutrition which includes among its goals:

...to make all efforts to eliminate before the end of this decade:

• famine and famine-related deaths;
• starvation and nutritional deficiency diseases in communities affected by natural and man-made disasters;
• iodine and vitamin A deficiencies.

...[and] to reduce substantially within this decade:

• starvation and widespread chronic hunger;
• undernutrition, especially among children, women and the aged;
• other important micronutrient deficiencies, including iron;
• diet-related communicable and noncommunicable diseases;
• social and other impediments to optimal breastfeeding;
• inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene, including unsafe drinking-water.