From dietary guidelines to daily food guide: the Taiwanese experience

Abstract

In early 1980's, the first edition of dietary guidelines for Taiwanese was established by the Department of Health (DOH), Executive Yuan. The main purposes of the guidelines were to guide nutritional professionals and dieticians to plan diet for preventing general population from diseases. Besides the amount of daily cholesterol intake, the percentages of calories from carbohydrate, protein, and fat was recommended. Dietary guidelines were revised concurrently as the results of national nutrition survey showed dietary or nutrient deficits of Taiwanese population. The recent dietary guidelines were then revised for general public and consist of 8 items, including: maintain ideal body weight, eat well-balanced meals from all food groups, eat whole grains as staples for main meals, eat more high-fiber foods, eat less fat, less salt, and less sugar, consume plenty of high calcium content foods, drink plenty of water, if you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. In addition to these qualitative guidelines, a daily food guide was also established to instruct the general public to consume portions from six food groups. The suggested portions for food groups were calculated and based on basic balanced meal principles and the recommended energy, protein for different age groups from DRIs. The pictorial representation of the daily food guide was plum blossom which is the national flower. Leaflets, posters, and slides were developed for nutrition education. As the eating behavior and disease patterns may change, the governments and nutrition societies should keep revising dietary guidelines and daily food guides to encourage population health.