Key Points
New Delhi: No sugar for infants and toddlers till the age of two, only 5 percent of daily calories from sugar, at least 500 gm of fruits and vegetables in daily meals these are some of the highlights of the National Dietary Guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN)...
Developed as part of the new guidelines, My Plate for the Day recommends sourcing of macronutrients and micronutrients from a minimum of eight food groups, with vegetables, fruits, green leafy vegetables, roots and tubers forming essentially half the plate of the recommended foods per day...
Intake of cereals should be limited to 45 percent of the total energy, while for pulses, eggs and flesh foods, the total energy percentage should be around 14- 15 percent; total fat intake should be less than or equal to 30 percent energy, while nuts, oilseeds, milk and milk products should contribute to 810 percent of total energy per day, respectively...
As of now, pulses, meat, poultry and fish together contribute only 6 to 9 percent of the total energy per day as against the recommended intake level of 14 percent from these foods, say the 148-page guidelines...
The latest guidelines add thatthe upsurge in the consumption of highly processed foods, coupled with reduced physical activity and the limited access to diverse foods, exacerbate micronutrient deficiencies and the overweight/obesity problems.. Research indicates that unhealthy, highly processed, high-fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) foods have become more affordable and accessible than the healthier alternatives, they add...
