Summary of dietary guidelines of different countries: Difference between revisions
m (10 revisions imported)  | 
				m (1 revision imported)  | 
				
Latest revision as of 01:05, 7 June 2024
Summary of dietary guidelines of different countries
(1) starchy foods (cereals, bread, some potatoes). 
Common to all countries: emphasis on whole-grain cereals every day. 
Sweden and Norway: 90 g wholemeal cereals for men (70 g for women). 
Denmark: 75 g wholemeal cereals.
Netherlands - 250g bread per day (for men 19-50 years old; 150g for women), plus [300g potatoes or 200-250g cooked cereals]
Switzerland - 3 servings per day (a serving is either ~100g of bread or 45-75g of cereals in dry weight) 
Spain - 25g fiber per day. 
Japan >20g fiber per day. 50-65% of energy from carbohydrates.
France - every day, with an emphasis on whole-grain cereals. Avoid pesticides. 
UK - one third of meals for starchy foods. 
Italy and Germany recommendations I couldn't decipher. 
US >112g whole grains and <112g refined cereals per day for 2400kcal/day diet
Australia, New Zealand - 6 servings (a serving is 75-120g of cooked cereals, or 40g of bread)
Singapore 5-7 servings of brown rice/wholemeal bread/potatoes per day. One serving of brown rice is 100g, one serving of bread is 60g, one serving of potatoes is 180g. 
(3,4,5) fruits and vegetables 
Germany >450g vegetables and 250g fruit (two fruits). 25g nuts can replace a fruit.  
Czech Republic >400g vegetables and >200g fruit 
Switzerland >360g vegetables and no more than 240g fruit (point 4)  
Netherlands >250g vegetables and >200g fruit 
Norway >250g vegetables, >250g fruit/berries 
Finland 250g vegetables, 250g fruit/berries 
USA 3 cups of vegetables, 2 cups of fruit for 2400kcal/day diet (cup is 240ml, don't know in grams. In New Zealand for example a cup is 150g vegetables or 75g leafy vegetables) 
Australia 450g of vegetables/legumes and 300g of fruit 
New Zealand - 450g vegetables and 300g fruit 
Singapore - 200-300g vegetable and 260g fruit 
Japan - 2 fruits per day and 5-6 "plates" of vegetables (couldn't find what that "plate" is) 
Denmark >600g fruits and vegetables in total, more emphasis on vegetables 
Sweden >500g total vegetables and fruit 
France 400-500g total vegetables and fruit 
Bulgaria >400g total vegetables and fruit 
Portugal 550-900g vegetables, 500-800g fruit per day 
Greece 600-800g vegetables and 360-600g fruit 
Spain - 300-450g vegetables (point 5) and 240-360g fruit (point 4)  
Italy - 3-4 medium (apple, orange) or 6-8 small (mandarin, apricot) fruits. 100g salad and 750-1000g vegetables (point 5, not sure I understood their wording about vegetables)  
UK - one third of the meal.  
Austria - 2 fruit the size of a fist, and 3 fists of vegetables 
(2) Potatoes 
Most countries have a good attitude toward boiled potatoes. Potatoes generally count along with cereals, and separately from vegetables.  
Particular opinions: 
Greece - no more than 400 grams of potatoes per week 
France - no scientific data on potatoes, consume as much as you wish within reasonable limits 
Netherlands - potatoes should occupy no more than half of the recommendations on wholemeal food intake (p.1)  
USA - 6 cups of potatoes per week (and other starchy vegetables) for a diet of 2400 kcal/day 
Malta - no more than 240g of potatoes per week 
Hungary - no more than every other day. 
And Denmark, for example, equates potatoes with whole-grain cereals: "At least 2/5 of the meal should be wholegrain cereals or potatoes". 
Belgium-Flanders suggests eating potatoes with every meal: "Eat potatoes at every main meal. 
6. Legumes 
Germany - 70g raw or 125g cooked legumes per day 
Greece - 2-3 servings per week (one serving is 150g to 200g cooked) 
Netherlands - 2-3 times a week 60g cooked 
Spain - eat 2-3 times a week 
France - 2 times a week 
Portugal 80-160g cooked legumes per day 
Singapore 2-3 servings of pulses/meat/fish per day (one serving is 120g pulses, or 90g meat/fish) 
In some countries, legumes count simply along with vegetables and are not specifically mentioned.  
7. Dairy products 
Note: In many documents, fermented milk also counts as milk. 
Finland 500-600g milk and 2-3 slices of cheese a day. 
Switzerland 600g of milk or yogurt a day. 
Austria 400g of milk or yogurt and 50g of cheese a day. 
Italy 375g milk and 375g yogurt per day, 200-300g fresh and 100-150g old cheese per week.  
Netherlands 300-450g milk and 40g cheese per day 
Germany 200-250g nonfat milk, and 50-60g cheese a day 
Sweden 200-500g milk per day 
Greece 2 servings per day (one serving equals 250g of milk or 30g of cheese or 60g of soft cheese).  
France 2 servings a day (a serving is 150g milk or 30g cheese)  
Spain simply says that dairy is basic and should be eaten daily. 
UK discreetly says have some dairy or dairy alternatives (soy drinks)  
USA - 720ml milk a day for any number of kcal/day 
Australia, N.Z. - 2.5 servings of dairy per day (1 serving is 250g of milk, or 40g of cheese). Men over 70 are recommended 3.5 servings, and women over 51 are recommended 4 servings. And even people with impaired lactose absorption are recommended up to 250ml of milk per day, just broken down into smaller servings. 
8. Meat 
France, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway - no more than 500g of red meat per week.  
Germany - no more than 300-600 grams of meat (including chicken) per week. 
The Netherlands - no more than 500g of meat (all kinds) per week. Of these, no more than 300g of red meat. 
Greece - no more than 120-150g of red meat per week. 240-300g of white meat per week recommended.  
UK - no more than 70g of red meat per day 
Switzerland - meat (including chicken) no more than 2-3 times a week 
Spain - it is advised to eat meat not every day. 
USA - meat, chicken and eggs total 124g per day for a 2400kcal/day diet 
Australia, New Zealand - 3 servings of meat/chicken/fish/nuts/eggs per day (1 serving is ~100g of meat/chicken/fish, or 2 eggs, or 30g of nuts). It is emphasized that 100g of red meat in raw form are one serving, but in cooked it would be 65g. Australia - limit red meat (lean meat) to 455g per week. New Zealand - limit red meat to 500g per week (that's in cooked form, and it will be 700-750g in raw form). 
Israel - minimize red meat. No more than 300g per week. 
Singapore 2-3 servings of pulses/meat/fish per day (a serving of pulses is 120g, meat/fish 90g) 
9. Fish 
Netherlands - 100g per week 
Germany - 150-220g per week 
Denmark - 350g per week. 
Greece 300-450g per week 
Spain 300-500 g fillets per week or 500-800 g non-fillet per week 
Norway 2-3 times a week 150g each 
Finland 2-3 times a week 100-150g each 
UK 2 times a week, 140g each 
Italy, Sweden 2-3 times a week 
France 2 times a week 
Switzerland 1-2 times a week 100-120g each 
USA - 280g per week for a 2400kcal/day diet 
Australia 140-280g fish per week 
Singapore - 2 servings of fish 90g each per week 
10. Eggs 
Greece - up to 4 per week. 
Spain - up to 4-5 per week. 
France - not enough scientific data for egg recommendations 
Italy - 2-4 per week, not in one day 
Netherlands 2-3 per week. 
Austria up to 3 per week. 
Finland 2-3 per week. 
Australia - no evidence of health risks of eggs 
11. oils and fats 
Czech Republic, Spain - no more than 30% of calories. More olive oil.  
Germany 60-80g fats per day. Every day, eat: 10-15 g of oil (e.g. rapeseed, walnut, or soybean oil) and 15-30 g of margarine or butter. Wow.  
Greece 60-75g of fats. The main added fat is olive oil. 
Netherlands 65g (men), 40g (women) 
Switzerland 20-30g vegetable oils, of which at least half is rapeseed oil 
U.S. - unsaturated fats should be 2.5 (or more) times more than saturated fats. Less than 8% of energy from saturated fats (according to the HEI index) 
Australia - 4 servings of unsaturated oil for men, 2 for women.  1 serving is 7g mono/poly unsaturated butter or 10g nuts 
Japan 20-30% energy from fats, <7% energy from saturated fats, ~10g w6 fats, ~2g w3 fats (depends on age, see p.13) 
12. Nuts and seeds  
Netherlands - 25 g per day 
Finland - 30g per day 
Switzerland 20-30g per day 
Austria, Sweden - 2 tablespoons per day 
Germany - 25g nuts can replace fruit. 
Spain - several times a week 
France - small handful per day 
USA - 140g per week for a 2400kcal/day diet 
13. Sweets -- unanimously as little as possible 
14. Salt -- ~unanimously no more than 5-6g of salt 
17. Alcohol - approximately unanimously no more than 20g of ethanol per day for men and 10g for women. 
Israel, Netherlands, Austria, Spain -- limit as much as possible. 
18. It is desirable to have variety in diet (different vegetables, fruits, etc.)  
Note. Update dates for the national recommendation documents: 
2020 - New Zealand 
2019 - Australia, Israel 
2017 - Germany, France, Greece 
2016 - UK, Netherlands, Switzerland 
2015 - Sweden, Denmark, Japan 
2014 - Finland, Norway 
2012 - Czech Republic 
2009 - Austria 
2008 - Spain 
2003 - Italy 
Recommendations may vary slightly depending on your age, gender, energy intake, and other things. As a rule, there is not much difference.
Links to guidelines: 
Europe  https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/health-knowledge-gateway/promotion-prevention/nutrition/food-based-dietary-guidelines 
USA https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/ 
Australia https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/the-australian-dietary-guidelines (1128 links to scientific papers in references!) 
New Zealand https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/eating-and-activity-guidelines-new-zealand-adults 
Israel https://health.gov.il/PublicationsFiles/dietary%20guidelines%20EN.pdf 
Singapore https://www.healthhub.sg/programmes/55/my-healthy-plate 
Japan https://www.mhlw.go.jp/file/06-Seisakujouhou-10900000-Kenkoukyoku/Overview.pdf, https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/kenkou/pdf/eiyou-syokuji4.pdf (couldn't find size of servings except for fruits) 
Could not find detailed dietary guidelines of China and South Korea. 
Canada guideline unfortunately does not contain detailed numbers: https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/guidelines/ 
WHO recommendations: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet They are few: >400g fruits and vegetables, <30% energy from fats, <10% energy from saturated fats 
Here the WHO also did a similar review in 2003, based on recommendations from different countries: "Food based dietary guidelines in the WHO European Region" 
Here are recommendations of WHO 2012y for eastern mediterranean region