Developing Ghana’s first Food-based dietary guidelines: An evidence-informed process

Abstract

Globally, sub-optimal diets across the entire lifecycle have been identified as an important driver of malnutrition in all its forms (global panel, Global burden of disease). The 2020 Global nutrition indicates that several countries on the African continent are off course in their efforts to address malnutrition in all its forms. Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) have been recommended as a necessary public health tool for creating awareness and promoting the consumption of optimal diets. Evidence-informed FBDGs can serve as a communication tool for enabling healthier dietary and lifestyle choices among the lay population. They can also be used by governments and other institutional actors as a policy tool for population-level interventions that improve the nutrition-sensitivity of food systems as well as food environments.