ICMR releases upgraded ‘Dietary Guidelines’ for Indians

Keeping up with the changing times, the dietary recommendations include specific recommendations on the amount of physical activity that one must undertake on a daily basis.

Hyderabad: Achieving the right balance between different food groups in a daily meal is a vexing question for a lot of Indians who desperately seek a balanced diet. Apart from food, there is always a lingering doubt of how much of ideal physical activity that one must include in daily life to achieve that perfect balance between diet and exercise?

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday released an upgraded ‘Dietary Guidelines’ for Indians to suit the modern eating habits of 2024. Keeping up with the changing times, the dietary recommendations include specific recommendations on the amount of physical activity that one must undertake on a daily basis.

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Framed by researchers from Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), the modern dietary guidelines specifically advise people to be physically active, exercise regularly, restrict intake of salt, minimize high fat, sugar, ultra-processed foods and take steps to prevent abdominal obesity overweight and overall obesity.

The NIN in the report has framed 17 dietary guidelines that emphasizes on health promotion, disease prevention across all age groups with special attention on healthy diets.

“The dietary habits of Indians have undergone significant changes over the past decades, leading to an increase in the prevalence of NCDs. These fresh dietary guidelines are now relevant to the changing food scenario with addition of practicable messages and suggestions on handling food safety choosing minimally processed foods, importance of food labels and physical activity,” said DG, ICMR, Dr Rajiv Bahl, while releasing the report.

According to the guidelines, individuals from all age groups must pursue a minimum of at least 30 to 45 minutes of physical activity of moderate intensity for good health. Regular physical activity of at least 60 minutes per day among children can prevent overweight and obesity. Even senior citizens must pursue a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic physical activity per day for at least five-days a week to avoid major health complications.

The ICMR-NIN has advised people to consume iodized salt, restrict intake of added salt to a maximum of 5 gm per day and has urged people to develop a taste for food-diets that are low in salt from an early age.