Friday, 14 October 2011
Historically, Ireland has used the American ‘food pyramid’ as the graphical model to communicate the key healthy eating messages
Good nutrition, coupled with an active lifestyle, plays a crucial role in the prevention of chronic conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke), diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers. The most fundamental challenge for nutritionists is how to convert complex scientific knowledge into easily understood and simple messages about healthy eating and communicate these to a given population.
‘Food-based dietary guidelines’ is the complete scientific term for a set of healthy eating messages provided for a population, in terms of how much and which types of foods to eat for good health. Such guidelines are commonly referred to as ‘healthy eating guidelines’ or ‘healthy eating advice’.
This report highlights the need for a revision of the ‘food pyramid’, 1993-2010. The FSAI is publishing this report to facilitate more effective health promotion and disease prevention in Ireland.
