WELLINGTON, July 18 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand scientists have called for releasing a national food strategy to promote a healthy, environment-friendly diet following the release of new international dietary guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.
"We urgently need a National Food Strategy for New Zealand, which has the potential to ensure a secure, sustainable food supply with less detrimental effects on the environment and climate, and which would provide a much greater benefit to human health than is the case at present," they said.
WHO's newly updated dietary advice on fat and carbohydrate intake is welcomed by New Zealand researchers, as uncertainty remains regarding the ideal composition of healthy diets.
The WHO recommends that adults limit fat intake to 30 percent of their total energy intake, with no more than 10 percent of total energy coming from saturated fats, and less than 1 percent coming from trans fats.
The recommendation to restrict total fat intake is intended to help prevent excessive weight gain, as fat provides more than twice as much energy per gram than protein or carbohydrate, according to the WHO.
New Zealand's Healthier Lives Director Jim Mann said Kiwis eat more fat than recommended, which is an average of 35 percent total and 15 percent saturated fat, adding some popular diets which include radical restriction of carbohydrate suggest or imply that there is no need for any limitation on fat intake.
Limiting saturated fat, which is found in meats, dairy and coconut products, is important for reducing the risk of heart disease, said Andrew Reynolds, scientist from the Healthier Lives National Science Challenge.
Both Mann and Reynolds have contributed to research informing the new WHO dietary guidelines.
New Zealanders currently get 0.6 percent of their daily energy intake from trans fats on average.
Mann said having clear and evidence-based dietary advice is important, but further steps are needed to make these recommendations accessible to everyone.
