Recommendations on healthy eating

The ”Western” diet contains high energy intake in comparison to low energy expenditure, a high intake of total and saturated fat, cholesterol and salt, and on the other hand, a low intake of carbohydrates and fibre. Finns have quite a high cholesterol level compared with other countries, and one reason for this might be the structure of fat in the food: it contains much saturated fat and cholesterol, but little mono- and polyunsaturated fat.

Common elements in the guidelines about a healthy lifestyle and diet include eating a variety of foods; consuming less fat; consuming more vegetables, fruits and grain products; being moderate in use of salt, sugar, and alcohol; increasing physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight. The Nordic countries have set guidelines for the composition of diets and the recommended intake of nutrients.
The guidelines give recommendations for the intake of fat, carbohydrates and protein. The recommendations also include reference values for the intake of energy, certain vitamins and minerals as well as the intake of sodium chloride. The recommendations are given separatelyfor adults, children older than 3 years and children under 3 years of age. According to the recommendations, the diet of an adult should not contain more than 30E% fat and 55 to 60E%
carbohydrate. The protein intake should provide between 10 to 15E%. The current Finnish recommendations (Statens näringsdelegation 1998) are very similar to the Nordic nutrition recommendations. The food circle, the food pyramid and a food plate model are used to describe a recommended, balanced diet.