What is Food-Based Dietary Guidelines?

Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) are an instrument of and expression of food and nutrition policy and should be based directly on diet and disease relationships of particular relevance to the individual country. Their primary purpose is to educate healthcare professionals and consumers about health promotion and disease prevention. In this way priorities in establishing dietary guidelines can address the relevant public health concerns whether they are related to dietary insufficiency or excess. In this context, meeting the nutritional needs of the population takes its place as one of the components of food and nutrition policy goals along with the priorities included in the FBDGs for improved health and nutrition for a given population.