Practical Experience in Development and Promotion of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines in Thailand
Practical Experience in Development and Promotion of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines in Thailand
Practical Experience in Development and Promotion of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines in Thailand
63
Review Article
Key Words: food-based dietary guidelines, food guide model, development, nutrition flag, Thailand
INTRODUCTION
Adequate nutrition is known to be essential for proper
growth and development. Moreover, it has recently been
accepted that healthy eating is a significant factor in reducing the risk of developing nutrition-related problems. In
terms of nutrition problems, Thailand is a country in transition. It is facing both under-nutrition and overnutrition.
Though it can be said that under-nutrition, such as proteinenergy malnutrition, vitamin A deficiency, iodine deficiency disorder, and iron deficiency anemia, have been
decreasing and infectious diseases have been brought under
control,1 concurrently, chronic and degenerative diseases or
non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, coronary
heart disease, cancer, hypertension and diabetes mellitus
have become leading causes of death and disability in
Thailand.1,2 Thai Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (Thai
FBDG) were designed to help people to choose what and
how much to eat from each food group.
The purposes of developing Thai food-based dietary
guidelines are to assist consumers in making dietary
choices for promotion of well-being and disease prevention
and to assist the governmental agencies in the development
of policies to guide the implementation of nutrition intervention. It is expected that FBDG will help to improve the
effectiveness of nutrition education efforts, directed both to
the general public and at the national level.3 This will assist
health care providers in primary diseases prevention efforts
and will guide the implementation of food, nutrition and
health goals by promotion of healthy food products.
64
65
cessful.
SOME ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THAI FBDG
z Campaign program for lowering sugar consumption
through the Sweet enough campaign network
since 2002.
z Thai FDA passed a law prohibiting sugar addition in
follow-on formula for infants in November 2004.
z Healthy Eating Index for Thai people.
z Healthy snacks for school children with friendly nutrition labeling.
z School lunch program menu development.
z Elderly menu development
z Nutrition education training for teachers and health
volunteers
z Assessment of dietary pattern and food consumption
z Setting the data base for the portion size of some ingredients in mixed diet
The Ministry of Public Health has a plan to revise the
Thai FBDG since it has been developed and used for
about one decade. Possibly lower recommendations of the
amounts of some food categories to make them more realistic are needed. Databases of recipes of mixed diets are
also required to assess the amounts of each food group
consumed.
AUTHOR DISCLOSURES
Prapaisri P Sirichakwal and Kitti Sranacharoenpong, no conflicts of interest.
REFERENCES
1. Thailand Health Profile 2001-2004. Ministry of Public
Health and Thai Health Promotion Foundation. http://www.
moph.go.th/ops/health_48
2. Ministry of Public Health. Report: Food and Nutrition Survey, Thailand, 2003.
3. World Health Organization. Regional Office of the Western
Pacific. Development of food-based dietary guidelines for
the Western Pacific Region: The shift from nutrients and
food groups to food availability, traditional cuisine and modern foods in relation to emerging chronic non-communicable
diseases. Manila: World Health Organization, 1999.
4. Working Group on Food-based Dietary Guidelines. Foodbased dietary Guidelines for Thai: I. Dietary Guidelines for
Good Health. Nutrition Division, Department of Health,
Ministry of Public Health, 1998.
5. Working Group on Food-based Dietary Guidelines. Foodbased dietary Guidelines for Thai: II. Manual, Nutrition Flag.
Nutrition Division, Department of Health, Ministry of Public
Health, 2000.