WHO Healthy Diet Principles and Guidance

Diet as a risk and protective factor

Diet is both a major risk and a major protective factor for health across the life course. Unhealthy diets increase the risk of malnutrition and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer, while healthy dietary patterns help prevent nutrient deficiencies and support overall well-being. Diet-related behaviours and preferences formed in childhood and adolescence often persist into adulthood, making early nutrition—especially breastfeeding—particularly important for healthy growth and cognitive development. Healthy diets are guided by four core principles: adequacy (meeting nutrient needs without excess), balance (matching energy intake with energy expenditure and ensuring appropriate proportions of macronutrients), moderation (limiting harmful nutrients/foods), and diversity (including a wide variety of nutritious foods). A healthy diet must also be safe, meaning free from microbial and chemical contaminants. In practice, it emphasizes minimally processed and unprocessed foods, with lower intakes of unhealthy fats, free sugars, and sodium, and sufficient fruits, vegetables, fibre, and other nutrient-dense foods. WHO guidance further specifies targets such as limiting free sugars to under 10% of total daily energy (with additional benefits at 5% or less), keeping saturated fat below 10% of energy and trans fat below 1%, limiting salt to under 5 g/day (2 g/day sodium), and ensuring adequate micronutrient intake through diverse foods and, where needed, fortification.

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Life-course prevention of malnutrition and NCDs

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