On October 24, 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) released the Definition and Requirements for Healthy Diets. The Definition recognizes that healthy diets should comply with four core principles, namely:

Adequacy: adequate provision of essential nutrients to prevent under-nutrition, promote health, and over-nutrition; 

Balance: energy intake and sources of energy (i.e., fats, carbohydrates, and proteins) should be balanced to promote health, growth, and prevention of disease; 

Moderation: the consumption of foods, nutrients, and other mixtures should be moderate to prevent harmful health effects; 

Diversity: Nutritious foods should be varied and the types of foods should be diversified to ensure adequate nutrition and the consumption of other substances that are beneficial to health.

Table 1. Recommended intakes of protein, fat and carbohydrates as a proportion of dietary energy intake

Learn more: https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/379324/9789240101876-eng.pdf?sequence=5