Dietary Guidelines for Indians-2024: A Critical Appraisal

Dietary guidelines play a pivotal role in guiding individuals towards selecting appropriate foods in adequate quantities across a range of food groups and achieving dietary diversity; thereby facilitating optimal nutrition throughout the lifecycle. These guidelines can also help in addressing the escalating incidence of under-/malnutrition, overweight/obesity and the non-communicable diseases like type-2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease and cancers in India. Estimates indicate that 56.4% of the total disease burden is due to unhealthy diets (1). Nutritionally appropriate diets and physical activity can substantially reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease and hypertension; and prevent up to 80 per cent of type 2 diabetes. A significant proportion of premature deaths can also be averted by adopting a healthy lifestyle (1).