WHO on how your diet can prevent chronic diseases

What we eat can have a major domino effect on our overall health. Back in 2002 the World Health Organization (WHO)/FAO Expert Consultation on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Disease issued recommendations for ways to prevent death and disability from nutrition-driven chronic diseases.

While it might seem obvious that the foods we consume dramatically impact our health and wellbeing, the WHO mandate was significant by shedding a spotlight on how some serious chronic diseases can be caused by unhealthy diets.

Here are the six major chronic diseases that WHO designated as major risks from poor diets:

• Obesity

• Diabetes

• Cardiovascular diseases

• Cancer

• Osteoporosis

• Dental disease

A global issue, this caution from WHO should resonate with Americans. On the domestic side of things, the United States faces a serious problem with unhealthy diets. About 117 million Americans — roughly half the country’s population — have one or more preventable chronic conditions, “many of which are related to poor quality eating patterns and physical activity,” according to health.gov.

If you’re reading this and are worried about your own risk for chronic disease, WHO outlines a simple solution — a balanced diet coupled with physical activity is crucial:

“Healthy diets and physical activity are key to good nutrition and necessary for a long and healthy life. Eating nutrient dense foods and balancing energy intake with the necessary physical activity to maintain a healthy weight is essential at all stages of life. Unbalanced consumption of foods high in energy (sugar, starch and/or fat) and low in essential nutrients contributes to energy excess, overweight and obesity. The amount of the energy consumed in relation to physical activity and the quality of food are key determinants of nutrition related chronic disease.”

Learn more by reading WHO’s recommendations.