Press Release: Dietary diversity the best approach to diet-related diseases

A new food-based approach to hunger and malnutrition is needed to cope with the epidemic of diet-related diseases around the world, warned Dr Emile Frison, Director General of Bioversity International, speaking at the Crawford Fund’s 2010 international conference. The conference “Biodiversity and World Food Security: Nourishing the Planet and its People,”  [2] is being held in Canberra today and tomorrow.

“Many studies have now shown clearly that a more diverse diet is associated with longer life and lower incidence of specific diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes” Frison said.

Indeed when the World Health Organization (WHO  [3]) and others first started to discuss micronutrient deficiencies, they favoured a food-systems approach based on dietary diversity. Over time, however, the medical establishment “captured” the problem with a simplistic solution to over-simplified diets.

“We must return to a food-based approach to malnutrition” Frison urged. “Not only is it more sustainable, it also has many other benefits, such as treating multiple deficiencies, protecting the environment, improving incomes and promoting the welfare of whole communities.”

The full press release is available here:
Dietary diversity the best approach to diet related diseases  [4]