Comparing National Dietary Guidelines
Countries considered for national food-based dietary guidelines
Belgium
http://www.fao.org/nutrition/education/food-dietary-guidelines/regions/countries/belgium/en/
Brazil
http://www.fao.org/nutrition/education/food-dietary-guidelines/regions/countries/brazil/en/
Comparing National Dietary Guidelines
Good nutrition is important for all human beings in the world. Different populations have different lifestyles involving different diets with different nutrition status. Therefore, developing a national food-based dietary program is not an easy task. However, more than one hundred countries in the world have developed food-based dietary guidelines. A considerable number of states is still in the process of developing dietary food guideline for their citizens. The United States has established various food-based guidelines for Americans to eat healthily since the 20th century. The current food-based nutritional program in the United States is the Choose MyPlate. Belgium and Brazil are some of the many countries in the world that have established food-based dietary guidelines to improve the nutritional content of the diet taken by society members.
Choose MyPlate is the current food nutrition guide in the United States having replaced My Pyramid in 2011. Choose MyPlate guidelines are published in most of the food packages in the United States to make the guidelines familiar to most of the citizens. Choose MyPlate food-based guidelines recommends that individuals should take 30% grain, 40% vegetables, 10% fruits, and 20% proteins accompanied by a glass of dairy such as a cup of milk (Willett, 2017). Many citizens have positively received MyPlate guidelines because of its simplicity and easily understandable to most of the citizens. The United States food guide recommends that individuals should consume more fruits and vegetables in their diet. Fruits and vegetables help to protect individuals from heart-related diseases because fruits reduce the effects of proteins in the body. However, the United States food guide has been criticized by some citizens claiming that the protein content suggested by the guidelines in the diet is too high.
The current food guide in Belgium was established in the year 2017. The Belgium food-based dietary guidelines recommend different diets to the citizens depending on the age of the citizens. The Belgium food guide recommends that citizens should eat 400 grams of vegetables and fruits every day, 75 grams of proteins, and three glasses of milk every day. In addition, the Belgium food-based dietary guidelines recommend that individuals should take 1.5 liters of water every day (Montagnese, 2015). The advantage of the Belgium food guide is that it helps individuals to reduce consumption of foods with much sugar content. The current Brazil food guide was established in 2014 by the Ministry of Health. The Brazil food-based guidelines recommend that citizens should include natural foods that are not processes such as legumes, cereals, and eggs in their diet. The Brazilian food guide further recommends that individuals should consist of fewer contents of sugar, fats, and salt while cooking or seasoning food. The Brazilian food guide does not provide the exact proportions of food classes individuals should include in their diet. However, food guide currently being used in Brazil discourages the consumption of ultra-processed foods because they associated with various diseases. The food guides from the three countries have several similarities and differences.
In conclusion, all the food guides from the United States, Belgium, and Brazil are aimed to improve the health of citizens. The food guides from the three countries recommend diets that protect individuals from various diseases. The food guidelines from the United States are more simple for citizens to understand. In addition, the United States food guidelines recommend that individuals include high amounts of fruits and vegetables in their diets. Fruits and vegetables are naturally produced foods that do not undergo through industrial processing, which protects the United States citizens from suffering from deadly diseases caused by industrially processed foods.
References
Montagnese, C., Santarpia, L., Buonifacio, M., Nardelli, A., Caldara, A. R., Silvestri, E., … & Pasanisi, F. (2015). European food-based dietary guidelines: A comparison and update. Nutrition, 31(7-8), 908-915.
Willett, W. (2017). Eat, drink, and be healthy: the Harvard Medical School guide to healthy eating. Simon and Schuster.