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According to new research, most health professionals think that key plant foods are underrepresented in dietary guidelines.
Most also believe that healthy eating is the responsibility of governments, policymakers, and the wider food system, as well as individuals themselves.
Read more: US Doctors’ Group Files Lawsuit Over ‘Industry-Influenced Dietary Guidelines’
Researchers from ProVeg International and the University of Göttingen carried out the study, which was published in Current Developments in Nutrition. They aimed to identify the factors that influence the implementation and uptake of food-based dietary guidelines “from the perspective of health and nutrition professionals.”
Phase 1 of the study involved 20 qualitative interviews with professionals across six continents. The researchers used insights from these interviews for Phase 2, a quantitative survey of global professionals. The data was then turned into statistics.
The researchers found that 80.5 percent of surveyed professionals use national food-based dietary guidelines in practice, but that 57.6 percent rated them only “somewhat” or “slightly” helpful for promoting healthy and sustainable food choices.
Most of the surveyed professionals highlighted the under-representation of plant-based foods as a shortcoming of their respective national dietary guidelines. Around 62.7 percent said that pulses were underrepresented, while 47.5 percent named plant-based milk alternatives and 42.4 percent named nuts and seeds.
While the responsibility of healthy eating is all too often placed entirely on the consumer, 65.3 percent of surveyed health professionals backed measures such as tax relief and subsidies to make nutritious, sustainable options more widely accessible. Retailers, restaurants, and producers could all make better choices easier.
Read more: Eating A Handful Of Nuts Per Day Reduces Blood Pressure Risk By 20%
‘We need coordinated action across the food system’
As noted by ProVeg International, scientifically robust, practical, and inclusive dietary guidelines based in reality are essential for widespread uptake.
Anna-Lena Klapp, head of research at ProVeg International and lead author of the new study, said, “Dietary guidelines have enormous potential to shape healthier and more sustainable food systems, but they need to work in the real world.”
She added, “If we want dietary guidelines to drive meaningful change, we need coordinated action across the food system to make healthy and sustainable choices easier for everyone.”
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