Nutrition information and advice for the public must be credible from a scientific perspective and easy to understand and follow. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has promoted the preparation and use of food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) in Asia, the Near East, Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa. The paper is based on a survey of 28 developing countries and case studies of South Africa, India, Chile and Guatemala, which were conducted by FAO in 2004. All FBDG stress the importance of dietary variety and balance, promote fruit and vegetable consumption, discourage excessive salt, sugar and alcohol consumption, and promote physical activity. In other respects, FBDG vary according to the specific health, behavior, culture and economic conditions within a country. The steps used in developing and implementing FBDG are discussed,with country examples to illustrate achievements, mistakes and obstacles. Main areas for improvements are: (1) FBDG are mainly developed and used within the health sector, involvement of the agriculture and education sectors is needed; (2) few counties communicate to widely reach the public; (3) many messages do not motivate changes in behavior, and (4) the application of FBDG in setting policies not sufficient received attention. Copyright (C) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.
