ICMR-NIN prepares first draft of new dietary guidelines to direct people toward healthy lifestyle
New Delhi, April 4, 2022:
In a bid to boost the natural immunity of Indians with lifestyle and dietary changes to manage the burden of communicable and chronic diseases, the Indiana Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Nutrition has introduced new dietary guidelines.
Dr. Avula Laxmaiah, Scientist G and Director, ICMR-NIN informed ANI that the new guidelines were made to reduce the risk of non-communicable chronic diseases like cardiac ailments like stroke, diabetes type two, and also make the body strong enough to resist communicable diseases like Covid, etc. One of the reasons why the guidelines were renewed she said, was the increased consumption of high salt and sugar and HFSS food items.
Dr. Laxmaiah further elaborated that a lot of changes took place in Indian’s food intake and dietary patterns since NIN developed dietary guidelines way. Back in 2011 with the. Easy accessibility. To HFSS foods.
Last month the annual report of NITI Aayog said that India can increase the tax for foods high in sugar, salt, and fat and front-of-the-pack labeling to tackle rising obesity in the population. The government think-tank was reviewing the evidence available to understand actions India can take to tackle the rising incidence of obesity.
Hence a robust review of how a high-fat and high-sugar diet is affecting health based on all the evidence and review was the need of the hour. A few goals were made in the draft copy of guidelines that includes all age groups. Each chapter in the guidelines will be addressing nutrition for children, infants, adolescents, men, and women as well as the geriatric population as well as for pregnant and lactating women. These guidelines will be helpful for adopting a healthy lifestyle she explained.
Dr. Laxmaiah is hopeful that the information will definitely deter people from going to unhealthy food and even modest modification will go a long way in helping to lead a healthy life, she added. Financialexpress