Healthy diet: A foundation for health, well-being, optimal growth and development
Healthy diet: Foundation for health protects against malnutrition and NCDs
Maria Santos (São Paulo, Brazil) thought she was feeding her family well. She worked two jobs to afford what she believed were nutritious foods. Her shopping cart filled with brightly packaged breakfast cereals, fruit-flavored yogurts, instant noodles, frozen dinners, and sugary drinks.
“The packages said ‘fortified with vitamins,’ ‘natural,’ ‘wholesome,'” Maria recalled. “I believed I was making healthy choices. How could I know these ultra-processed foods were destroying my family’s health?”
Within five years, Maria’s husband developed type 2 diabetes. Her teenage daughter became obese. Maria herself suffered a minor stroke at age 42. Their doctor explained the devastating truth: their diet, dominated by highly processed foods loaded with salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats, had caused these entirely preventable diseases.
“I cried for days,” Maria said. “We weren’t poor. We had enough money for food. But nobody taught me what healthy eating actually meant. The marketing convinced me I was feeding my family well when I was slowly poisoning them.”
Maria’s story reflects a global crisis. According to WHO, a healthy diet is a foundation for health, well-being, optimal growth and development. It protects against all forms of malnutrition. Unhealthy diet is one of the leading risks for the global burden of disease, mainly for noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer.
For more on related nutrition topics, see our articles on obesity prevention and food safety at ObserverVoice.com. WHO provides fact sheets on healthy diet, food safety, malnutrition, obesity and overweight, and trans fat.
Science-Backed Benefits of Healthy Eating
Evidence shows the health benefits of a diet high in whole grains, vegetables, fruit, legumes and nuts, and low in salt, free sugars and fats, particularly saturated and trans fats. A healthy diet starts early in life with adequate breastfeeding. The benefits of a healthy diet are reflected in higher educational outcomes, productivity and lifelong health.
A healthy diet is also more environmentally sustainable, as it is associated to lower greenhouse gas emissions, lower use freshwater and land mass. This connection between healthy diet and environmental sustainability makes nutrition choices critical for both personal health and planetary health.
However, healthy diets can be inaccessible, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and also in places and situations with high rates of food insecurity. Around the world, an estimated 3 billion people cannot access safe, nutritious and sufficient food. In addition, the proliferation of highly processed food, supported by aggressive marketing, rapid unplanned urbanization and changing lifestyles have contributed to more people eating unhealthy diets high in energy, free sugars, salt, saturated fats and trans fats.
Related topics include diabetes, nutrition, food safety, noncommunicable diseases, and physical activity. For more on disease prevention through nutrition, see our article on noncommunicable diseases at ObserverVoice.com.
WHO’s Evidence-Based Recommendations
What constitutes a healthy diet may differ depending on individual needs, locally available foods, dietary customs, cultural norms and other considerations. However, the basic principles of healthy diets remain the same for everyone. The nature of access to food requires broader solutions at the societal level to promote safe and healthy food options.
WHO recommends: to meet the needs of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals through a varied diet, largely plant based, and balancing energy intake with expenditure; obtaining the largest amount of energy from carbohydrates, mainly through legumes and wholegrain cereals; reducing total fats to less than 30% of total energy intake, shifting fat intake away from saturated and trans fat to unsaturated fats, and eliminating industrial trans fats from the diet.
Additional recommendations include: reducing free sugars to less than 10% (ideally 5%) of total energy intake; limiting sodium intake to less than 2 grams per day (equivalent to 5 grams of salt); and consuming at least 400 grams of vegetables and fruit per day in adults and children above 10, and 250–350 grams per day in younger children.
WHO provides Q&A on 5 keys to a healthy diet, What is the recommended food for children in their very early years?, and Up to what age can a baby stay well nourished by just being breastfed?.
WHO’s Comprehensive Response
WHO continuously updates the guidance on what constitutes a healthy diet to prevent all forms of malnutrition and promote well-being in different population groups across the life course and on how different nutrients and foods contribute to it.
WHO develops evidence-informed guidance on improving the food environment, such as school food and nutrition policies, public food procurement policies, nutrition labelling policies, policies to restricting marketing foods and beverages to children, and fiscal policies (i.e., taxation and subsidies). WHO engages with food manufacturers on improving the nutrition profile of their products.
WHO supports Member States in adopting and implementing policies by providing tools such as systems to characterize the nutrient profiles of foods, benchmarks for sodium content in food, manuals on how to implement fiscal policies and marketing restriction policies. WHO regularly monitors the adoption and implementation of food environment policies and their impact on population dietary intake and health.
WHO provides e-Library of evidence for Nutrition Actions (eLENA), Global database on the Implementation of Food and Nutrition Action (GIFNA), and Nutrition landscape information system (NLiS).
Key Initiatives and Recent Actions
WHO leads REPLACE trans fat-free by 2023 initiative. WHO established WHO Trans Fat Elimination Technical Advisory Group (TFATAG), Guideline Development Group for Ultra-Processed Foods, Guideline Development Group on consumption of tropical oils, and Guideline Development Group on optimal intake of animal-source foods. WHO launched Healthy Diets Monitoring Initiative (HDMI).
September 2025 WHO announced Countries and global leaders recognized for their action to tackle the obesity crisis. May 2025 WHO reported World Health Assembly re-commits to global nutrition targets and marketing regulations. April 2025 WHO unveiled bold commitments at Nutrition for Growth Summit. March 2025 WHO announced United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025) extended to 2030.
Essential Publications and Resources
January 2026 WHO published Supporting policymakers to overcome opposition to regulatory policies for improving population diets explaining that improving population diets through regulatory measures has strong public health justification. November 2025 WHO published WHO reference protocol for measuring fatty acids in foods, with emphasis on monitoring trans-fatty acids. October 2025 WHO published WHO guideline on fortification of edible oils and fats with vitamins A and D for public health noting that Vitamin A deficiency remains leading cause of preventable blindness in children. October 2025 WHO published Global nutrition targets 2030: topical briefs on maternal, infant and young child nutrition.
January 2026 WHO hosted Launch of WHO guideline on policies and interventions to create healthy school food environments. November 2025 WHO launched WHO guideline on fortification of edible oils and fats with vitamins A and D. October 2025 WHO presented Country Voices on Trans Fat Elimination: Policies in Action.
WHO produced podcasts Episode #101 – Do sweeteners help with weight loss? and Episode #91 – Everything you need to know about trans fat. WHO created infographics on Nutrition ferritin – iron from your food and Essential nutrition action (ENA) – Life-course.
Strong Global Commitment
World Health Assembly passed WHA63.14 on Marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children and WHA57.17 on Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health. WHO’s Nutrition and Food Safety team coordinates comprehensive technical work including Noncommunicable Diseases and Health Promotion activities.
Maria now teaches community nutrition workshops. “After my family’s health crisis, I educated myself about real nutrition. I learned to read ingredient labels, cook from scratch, choose whole foods over processed products. We reversed my husband’s diabetes. My daughter lost weight and regained confidence. I haven’t had another stroke.”
“Now I help other families avoid our mistakes,” Maria continued. “Healthy eating isn’t complicated or expensive when you understand the basics. It’s about real food—vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts. Not products engineered in factories to be addictive. This knowledge should be universal. Every parent deserves to know how to truly nourish their family.”
For more information, visit WHO’s healthy diet topic page or explore related content at ObserverVoice.com.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A healthy diet is foundation for health, well-being, optimal growth and development. It protects against all forms of malnutrition. Unhealthy diet is one of leading risks for global burden of disease, mainly for noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Evidence shows health benefits of diet high in whole grains, vegetables, fruit, legumes and nuts, and low in salt, free sugars and fats, particularly saturated and trans fats. Healthy diet starts early in life with adequate breastfeeding. Benefits of healthy diet are reflected in higher educational outcomes, productivity and lifelong health. Healthy diet is also more environmentally sustainable, as it is associated to lower greenhouse gas emissions, lower use freshwater and land mass. Related: diabetes, noncommunicable diseases. WHO provides fact sheets on healthy diet, obesity and overweight.
WHO recommends: meet needs of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals through varied diet, largely plant based, and balancing energy intake with expenditure; obtain largest amount of energy from carbohydrates, mainly through legumes and wholegrain cereals; reduce total fats to less than 30% of total energy intake, shift fat intake away from saturated and trans fat to unsaturated fats, and eliminate industrial trans fats from diet; reduce free sugars to less than 10% (ideally 5%) of total energy intake; limit sodium intake to less than 2 grams per day (equivalent to 5 grams of salt); consume at least 400 grams of vegetables and fruit per day in adults and children above 10, and 250–350 grams per day in younger children. What constitutes healthy diet may differ depending on individual needs, locally available foods, dietary customs, cultural norms but basic principles remain same for everyone. WHO provides Q&A on 5 keys to a healthy diet. Related: nutrition, food safety.
WHO continuously updates guidance on what constitutes healthy diet to prevent all forms of malnutrition and promote well-being. WHO develops evidence-informed guidance on improving food environment, such as school food and nutrition policies, public food procurement policies, nutrition labelling policies, policies to restricting marketing foods and beverages to children, and fiscal policies. WHO engages with food manufacturers on improving nutrition profile of their products. WHO supports Member States by providing tools such as systems to characterize nutrient profiles of foods, benchmarks for sodium content in food, manuals on how to implement fiscal policies and marketing restriction policies. WHO regularly monitors adoption and implementation of food environment policies and their impact. WHO provides e-Library of evidence for Nutrition Actions (eLENA), Global database on Implementation of Food and Nutrition Action (GIFNA), Nutrition landscape information system (NLiS).
January 2026 WHO published Supporting policymakers to overcome opposition to regulatory policies for improving population diets. November 2025 WHO published WHO reference protocol for measuring fatty acids in foods with emphasis on monitoring trans-fatty acids. October 2025 WHO published WHO guideline on fortification of edible oils and fats with vitamins A and D for public health and Global nutrition targets 2030: topical briefs. WHO leads REPLACE trans fat-free by 2023 initiative. WHO launched Healthy Diets Monitoring Initiative (HDMI). May 2025 World Health Assembly re-commits to global nutrition targets. March 2025 WHO announced UN Decade of Action on Nutrition extended to 2030. Related: physical activity.
Healthy diets can be inaccessible, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and also in places and situations with high rates of food insecurity. Around world, estimated 3 billion people cannot access safe, nutritious and sufficient food. In addition, proliferation of highly processed food, supported by aggressive marketing, rapid unplanned urbanization and changing lifestyles have contributed to more people eating unhealthy diets high in energy, free sugars, salt, saturated fats and trans fats. Nature of access to food requires broader solutions at societal level to promote safe and healthy food options. WHO developed guidance on improving food environment including school food policies, public procurement policies, nutrition labelling, marketing restrictions to children, fiscal policies. WHO’s Nutrition and Food Safety team coordinates work. WHA passed WHA63.14 on Marketing of food to children, WHA57.17 on Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health. WHO provides fact sheets on malnutrition, trans fat.
- WHO Healthy Diet Topic Page
- WHO Fact Sheet on Healthy Diet
- e-Library of Evidence for Nutrition Actions (eLENA)
- Global Database on Implementation of Food and Nutrition Action (GIFNA)
- REPLACE Trans Fat Initiative
Disclaimer: This article is an adaptation of publicly available information from WHO’s Healthy diet
health topic page (WHO, Geneva. Licence: CC BYNC-SA 3.0 IGO). WHO is not responsible for the
content or accuracy of this adaptation. This content is for informational and educational purposes
only and does not constitute medical advice. ObserverVoice.com is a news and information platform
— not a healthcare provider.
Observer Voice is the one stop site for National, International news, Sports, Editor’s Choice, Art/culture contents, Quotes and much more. We also cover historical contents. Historical contents includes World History, Indian History, and what happened today. The website also covers Entertainment across the India and World.
