Nutrition for a healthy life – WHO recommendations

Key facts

• Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases are the biggest health threat in the WHO European Region and globally.
• NCDs are responsible for more than 80% of all deaths in the WHO European Region. These diseases are closely linked to unhealthy diets and excess body weight.
• In most Member States, salt intake is above the WHO-recommended maximum level (5 g of salt per day). High salt intake increases blood pressure, which increases the risk of cardiovascular conditions such as heart attack, heart disease and stroke. Cardiovascular diseases are the predominant cause of disability and premature death in the European Region, causing over 42.5% of all deaths annually, which translates to 10 000 deaths per day.
• Twenty-five per cent of children and 60% of adults live with overweight or obesity. This threatens the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal target 3.4 - reducing premature NCD mortality - as well as the attainment of other goals, including those related to economic growth and education.
• Overweight and obesity are the fourth most common risk factor for NCDs in the Region, after high blood pressure, dietary risks and tobacco use. A major risk factor is the excessive intake of free sugars, which threaten the nutrient quality of the diet by providing significant energy with few other nutritional benefits.
• One in every 11 deaths in the WHO European Region is due to alcohol consumption. Every year, about 800 000 deaths in the Region result from alcohol use, which represents almost a third of the global total of 2.6 million deaths.
• Children and adolescents are regularly exposed to the digital marketing of many unhealthy products, including foods high in saturated fat, salt and free sugars, as well as alcoholic beverages. As time spent online shifts increasingly to social media and mobile devices, where personalized and targeted advertising predominates, the situation is likely to deteriorate.

Importance of a healthy balanced diet

Consuming a healthy diet throughout the life-course helps to prevent malnutrition in all its forms as well as a range of NCDs and conditions. The exact make-up of a diversified, balanced and healthy diet will vary depending on individual characteristics (such as age, gender, lifestyle and degree of physical activity), cultural context, locally available foods and dietary customs. However, the basic principles of what constitutes a healthy diet remain the same.

General guiding principles for a healthy diet

The following list of principles for a healthy diet was compiled on the basis of WHO recommendations.

• Eat a variety of foods daily: vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and whole grains.
• Eat at least 400 g (5 portions) of fruits and vegetables every day.
• Limit free sugar intake to <10% of daily energy (ideally <5%). This is the equivalent of 50 g or 12 teaspoons of sugar (5% is 25 g or 6 teaspoons). Free sugar is any sugar added to a food or beverage, including sugar that is already in honey, syrup and fruit juice.
• Limit total fat intake to <30% of daily energy. Limit saturated fats to <10% and trans fats to <1%. Saturated fats are found in meat, butter, palm and coconut oil, and are usually solid at room temperature. Trans fats are industrially produced fats often found in baked goods and deep-fried foods in places without policies to restrict them as an unnecessary and potentially harmful chemical.
• Replace saturated and trans fats in the diet. This can be done with polyunsaturated fats found in fish, avocado, nuts and most plant-based oils.
• Limit salt intake to <5 g/day; use iodized salt.

Healthy diet for infants and children

• Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first 6 months of life to ensure optimal growth, development and health.
• From 6 months onwards, breastfeeding should continue alongside the introduction of safe, diverse and nutrient-dense complementary foods. These foods should be prepared without added salt or sugar.
• Continued breastfeeding is encouraged until and even beyond 2 years of age, as it remains an important source of nutrition and immune protection.

Healthy diet for pregnant and postpartum women

Nutritious, safe diets are essential before and during pregnancy and while breastfeeding to support maternal and child health.

Healthy diets for healthy ageing

Although health status at older ages is mainly dependent on lifestyles established during adulthood and youth, the level of physical activity and quality of diet in older age are also important determinants of health, well-being, functional ability, mobility and independence.

Maintaining a healthy body weight

WHO recommends a body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 25. Higher BMI increases the risk of NCDs, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. Monitoring weight, eating healthily and staying active will help to maintain a healthy BMI.

Note: BMI is derived from a person's weight in kilograms, divided by height (squared) in metres.

Body mass index (BMI)

BMI is a measure for indicating nutritional status in adults. It is defined as a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of the person's height in metres (kg/m2). For example, an adult who weighs 70 kg and whose height is 1.75 m will have a BMI of 22.9.

70 (kg) / 1.752 (m) = 22.9 (BMI)

For adults over 20 years old, BMI falls into one of the following ranges:

BMI ranges are based on the effect that excessive body fat has on disease and death, and are reasonably well related to adiposity. BMI was developed as a risk indicator of disease. As BMI increases, so does the risk for certain diseases. Common conditions related to overweight and obesity include cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, certain types of cancer and diabetes.

BMI is also recommended for use in children and adolescents. In children, BMI is calculated as for adults and then compared to z-scores or percentiles. During childhood and adolescence, the ratio between weight and height varies with sex and age, so the cut-off values that determine the nutritional status of those aged 0-19 years are gender- and age-specific. The cut-off points of the 2006 BMI-for-age reference for children aged 0-5 years for the diagnosis of overweight and obesity were set as the 97th and the 99th percentile, respectively. For those aged 5-19 years, overweight is defined as a BMI-for-age value over +1 standard deviation (SD) and obesity - as a BMI-for-age value over +2 SD.

Less alcohol is better, none is best

Alcohol is a toxic, psychoactive, dependence-producing substance. Alcohol consumption is causally linked to over 200 health conditions, including liver diseases, road injuries, violence, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, suicides, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. For these conditions, there is a direct link between the amount of alcohol consumed and the risk of developing the disease or dying from it - the more alcohol you drink, the higher the risk.

Learn more about the harms of alcohol use from the WHO/Europe fact sheet linked on this webpage.

WHO response in Europe

Investing in policies and interventions that promote better diets, improve food systems and reduce alcohol use can contribute to healthier and more sustainable living environments across the WHO European Region. WHO is committed to supporting countries in these efforts.

Tackling the obesity epidemic

At the 75th World Health Assembly in 2022 countries endorsed the "WHO acceleration plan to stop obesity" and in 2023 WHO launched the "Health service delivery framework for prevention and management of obesity", an integrated health service delivery framework for obesity to guide countries in expanding access to obesity services. This framework underscores integrating obesity prevention and treatment throughout the health system - from community and primary care to specialized services - and adopting a life-course approach to chronic care.

WHO/Europe is advancing nutrition and obesity prevention by supporting countries in implementing evidence-based policies that reshape food environments and strengthen health systems. WHO works with countries to integrate obesity prevention and management at all levels of care.

WHO/Europe quick buy policies - focus on healthier diets

In 2025, WHO/Europe introduced quick buys - 25 policies targeting key NCD risk factors and disease groups (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and cancers) that can have a positive impact on population health across Europe and central Asia within 5 years.

The quick buys clearly demonstrate how policy-makers and politicians can achieve measurable results in tackling NCDs within a single political cycle.

Among the quick buys, there are 3 policies related to unhealthy diets:

• reformulation policies for healthier food and beverage products (such as elimination of trans-fatty acids and/or reduction of saturated fats, free sugars and/or sodium);
• front-of-pack labelling as part of comprehensive nutrition labelling policies to facilitate consumers' understanding and choice of food for healthy diets; and
• behaviour change communication and mass media campaigns for healthy diets (for example, to reduce the intake of energy, free sugars, sodium and unhealthy fats, and to increase the consumption of legumes, whole grains, fruits and vegetables)

By promoting comprehensive strategies, WHO/Europe helps countries to create healthier environments that empower people to make nutritious choices and reduce NCD risks.

Learn more about WHO/Europe quick buys using the relevant link on this webpage.