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1. Food-based dietary guidelines – Philippines
Official name
Nutritional guidelines for Filipinos (Filipino: Mga Gabay sa Wastong Nutrisyon Para sa Pilipino).
Publication year
The Philippines published its first dietary guidelines in 1990. They were revised in 2000 and again in
2012.
Process and stakeholders

2. The Food and Nutrition Research Institute – Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST)
initiated and chaired the inter-agency and multidisciplinary Technical Working Group on the 2012
guidelines.
The guidelines were approved by the National Nutrition Council. The communication and
dissemination is spearheaded by the National Nutrition Council and endorsed by various
government agencies.
Intended audience
The guidelines are directed at the general population and also include messages on the feeding of
infants and children.
Food guide
The Philippines uses the daily nutritional guide pyramid and has developed pyramids for different
population groups. The pyramid is divided into levels of recommended consumption. Messages
about exercise and personal and environmental hygiene serve as support messages for the
pyramid.
The healthy food plate for Filipino adults (Pinggang Pinoy) completes the messages of the pyramid by
showing adequate distribution of nutritious foods in a meal.

3. Messages
• Eat a variety of foods every day to get the nutrients needed by the body.
• Breastfeed infants exclusively from birth up to 6 months, then give appropriate
complementary foods while continuing breastfeeding for 2 years and beyond for optimum
growth and development.
• Eat more vegetables and fruits every day to get the essential vitamins, minerals and fiber for
regulation of body processes.
• Consume fish, lean meat, poultry, eggs, dried beans or nuts daily for growth and repair of
body tissues.
• Consume milk, milk products and other calcium-rich foods, such as small fish and shellfish,
every day for healthy bones and teeth.

4. • Consume safe foods and water to prevent diarrhea and other food and water-borne
diseases.
• Use iodized salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.
• Limit intake of salty, fried, fatty and sugar-rich foods to prevent cardiovascular diseases.
• Attain normal body weight through proper diet and moderate physical activity to maintain
good health and help prevent obesity.
• Be physically active, make healthy food choices, manage stress, avoid alcoholic beverages
and do not smoke to help prevent lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases.
Healthy Eating Plate
Use the Healthy Eating Plate as a guide for creating healthy, balanced meals—
whether served at the table or packed in a lunch box. Click on each section of the
interactive image below to learn more.

5. Building a Healthy and Balanced Diet
Make most of your meal vegetables and fruits – ½ of your plate.
Aim for color and variety, and remember that potatoes don’t count as
vegetables on the Healthy Eating Plate because of their negative impact on
blood sugar.
Go for whole grains – ¼ of your plate.
Whole and intact grains—whole wheat, barley, wheat
berries, quinoa, oats, brown rice, and foods made with them, such as whole
wheat pasta—have a milder effect on blood sugar and insulin than white
bread, white rice, and other refined grains.
Protein power – ¼ of your plate.
Fish, poultry, beans, and nuts are all healthy, versatile protein sources—they
can be mixed into salads, and pair well with vegetables on a plate. Limit red
meat, and avoid processed meats such as bacon and sausage.
Healthy plant oils – in moderation.
Choose healthy vegetable oils like olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut,
and others, and avoid partially hydrogenated oils, which contain unhealthy
trans fats. Remember that low-fat does not mean “healthy.”
Drink water, coffee, or tea.
Skip sugary drinks, limit milk and dairy products to one to two servings per
day, and limit juice to a small glass per day.
Stay active.
The red figure running across the Healthy Eating Plate’s placemat is a
reminder that staying active is also important in weight control.
The main message of the Healthy Eating Plate is to focus on diet quality:
• The type of carbohydrate in the diet is more important than the amount of
carbohydrate in the diet, because some sources of carbohydrate—like
vegetables (other than potatoes), fruits, whole grains, and beans—are
healthier than others.
• The Healthy Eating Plate also advises consumers to avoid sugary beverages,
a major source of calories—usually with little nutritional value—in the
American diet.

6. • The Healthy Eating Plate encourages consumers to use healthy oils, and it
does not set a maximum on the percentage of calories people should get each
day from healthy sources of fat. In this way, the Healthy Eating Plate
recommends the opposite of the low-fat message promoted for decades by
the USDA.
Plate and the Planet
Just as different foods can have differing impacts on human health, they also have
differing impacts on the environment. Shifting towards a “planetary health diet”
can nurture both people and planet.
Human diets inextricably link health and environmental sustainability, and
have the potential to nurture both. [1] Increased food production over the past

7. 50 years has helped improve life expectancy and reduce hunger, infant and
child mortality rates, and global poverty. However, such benefits are now being
offset by shifts towards unhealthy diets.
Globally, as nations have urbanized and citizen incomes have increased,
traditional diets (typically higher in quality plant-based foods), have
transitioned to a “Western-style dietary pattern,” characterized by high
consumption of calories, highly processed foods (refined carbohydrates, added
sugars, sodium, and unhealthy fats), and high amounts of animal products.
[2,3] Along with the negative human health impacts associated with this
nutrition transition, this dietary pattern is also unsustainable. Current food
production is already driving climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and
drastic changes in land and water use.

8. Different food, different impact
Along with varying impacts on human health, different foods also have differing impacts on the
environment. As shown in the figure below, the production of animal-based foods tends to have
higher greenhouse gas emissions (orange bars) than producing plant-based foods—and dairy
and red meat (especially beef) stand out for their disproportionate impact. Beyond emissions,
it’s also important to note that food production places an enormous demand upon our natural
resources, as agriculture is a major contributor to deforestation, species extinction, and
freshwater depletion and contamination (in this figure, these impacts are represented by land
use [green bars] and freshwater consumption [blue bars]).

9. Defining a “Planetary Health Diet”
In 2019, the EAT-Lancet Commission developed the world’s first scientific
targets for healthy and sustainable food systems, including a “planetary health
diet” with defined daily consumption ranges for each food group. This dietary
pattern—characterized by a variety of high-quality plant-based foods and low
amounts of animal-based foods, refined grains, added sugars, and unhealthy
fats—is designed to be flexible to accommodate local and individual situations,
traditions, and dietary preferences.
Created to meet nutritional requirements and promote health, all while staying
within “planetary boundaries,” the Commission found that global adoption of
this planetary health diet would provide major health benefits. Modeling
studies show that between 10.9 to 11.6 million early deaths could be averted
each year—a 19% to 23.6% reduction from current adult mortality rates. [1]
Compared with current diets, this shift
will require global consumption of foods such as red meat and sugar to
decrease by 50%, while consumption of fruits, nuts, vegetables,
and legumes must double. That said, the Commission emphasizes the
importance of tailoring these targets to local situations. For example, while
North American countries currently consume almost 6.5 times the
recommended amount of red meat, countries in South Asia eat only half the
recommended amount. [1]
Undoubtedly, making such a radical shift to the global food system is
unprecedented, and will depend on widespread, multi-sector, multi-level
action. Alongside dramatic reductions in food waste and major improvements
in food production practices, the Commission’s report calls for “international
and national commitment” through a range of policy measures and actions
needed to make healthy and sustainable foods more available, accessible, and
affordable. From governments and policymakers to marketers, industry, the

10. media, educational institutions, farmers, chefs, physicians, and consumers—
everyone has an important role to play in this Great Food Transformation.
Plant-forward for planetary health
The term plant-forward is defined as “a style of cooking and eating that emphasizes and
celebrates, but is not limited to, foods from plant sources—fruits and vegetables (produce),
whole grains, legumes (pulses), nuts and seeds, plant oils, and herbs and spices—and reflects
evidence-based principles of health and sustainability.”
Created through Menus of Change (a joint initiative of The Culinary Institute of America
and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition), plant-
forward describes a broad set of dietary patterns and approaches to menu design that
deliver both personal and planetary health but also preserve a wide range of choices.
Preparing a Planetary Health Plate
It’s clear that what we put on our plates has a major impact on the
environment. Eating more healthfully and more sustainably go hand-in-hand,
meaning we can develop sustainable eating practices that improve our own
health while also benefiting the health of the planet. If you’re interested in
practicing a planetary health diet, but confused by the specific targets in the
table above, here are some tips that may help:
• First of all, be sure to note that these ranges are based on daily energy intake
of 2,500 calories for an average adult. That means your individual optimal
intake will depend on age, body size, and level of physical activity. (The
Commission’s report includes special considerations for young children,
adolescents, and pregnant and breastfeeding women.)
• This dietary pattern is also intended to be flexible enough to accommodate
individual situations, traditions, and dietary preferences. Animal products
are minimized, not completely excluded, so there is a range of options for
omnivores as well as those who follow vegetarian or vegan diets.

11. • Seeing certain foods listed in grams per day may be unfamiliar. For example,
how to eat only 13 grams of eggs per day when a single large egg is about 50
grams? You might be able to stick to this amount if you scramble a single egg
into a stir-fry serving for multiple people, however it’s easier to think about
your egg consumption on a weekly basis, where this equates to around 2
eggs.
• The same goes for other animal products. Eating even the upper-limit of 14
grams per day of red meat (a fraction of a single hamburger patty) may not
be as realistic as thinking about saving this daily amount for one day during
the week (e.g. eating one whole hamburger patty). Aim to consume no more
than 98 grams of red meat (pork, beef or lamb), 203 grams of poultry, and
196 grams of fish per week.
o Understandably, if you’ve grown up (or have grown accustomed to)
having beef, pork, and other red meats on your plate at most meals,
such a change may seem daunting. But remember you don’t have to
completely cut it out to make a difference for your health and the
health of the planet. If you’re not quite sure where to start, here
are four key approaches to cutting back the red meat while keeping
your meals filling and flavorful.
• To get a sense of implementing this dietary pattern over the course of a
week, here is a sample of what someone eating a varied, Western diet (of
2,500 calories) might select:
• It also helps to see these targets visualized as a complete plate—half of
which would be filled with fruits and vegetables (starchy vegetables, like
potatoes, are limited), while the other half should consist of primarily whole
grains and plant-based protein foods, with unsaturated oils and modest
amounts of animal-based protein foods. Look familiar? This guidance is
closely aligned with the Healthy Eating Plate.

12. A planetary health plate. (Source: EAT, Summary Report of the EAT-Lancet Commission )
What Else Can I Do?
Alongside a shift to a planetary health diet, moving towards a more sustainable
food future will also require major improvements in food production practices
and significant reductions in food losses and waste. Food waste is another
complex problem that occurs well before our homes, but here are some
strategies for shopping, storing, and repurposing that can minimize your
personal impact.

13. Balanced Diet Quiz: Test Your Knowledge!
Instructions: Choose the best answer for each question.
1. What is the MAIN benefit of eating a balanced diet?
a) It helps you lose weight quickly.
b) It provides your body with all the nutrients it needs.
c) It makes your food taste better.
d) It allows you to eat more sugary treats.
Answer: (b) It provides your body with all the nutrients it needs.
2. How many colors of fruits and vegetables should you aim for in your daily intake?
a) Red only
b) As many as possible for a wider range of nutrients.
c) Yellow and green only.
d) No specific color requirement.
Answer: (b) As many as possible for a wider range of nutrients.
3. Which of the following is NOT a good source of lean protein?
a) Fatty fish (salmon, tuna)
b) Skinless chicken breast
c) Tofu
d) Ground beef
Answer: (d) Ground beef (unless it's lean ground beef)
4. What is the recommended daily intake of WHOLE grains?
a) There is no specific recommendation.
b) 1 cup
c) 3-5 ounces
d) As much as you can eat.
Answer: (c) 3-5 ounces
5. A balanced diet includes some amount of healthy fats. Which of these is a good source?
a) Butter
b) Avocados
c) White bread
d) Sugary cereals
Answer: (b) Avocados

14. Essay Question:
Explain the difference between macronutrients and micronutrients and why they are both
important for a balanced diet.
Answer:
Macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) are the nutrients your body needs in large
amounts for energy and building and repairing tissues. Micronutrients (vitamins and minerals)
are needed in smaller amounts but are essential for many bodily functions. Both macronutrients
and micronutrients are important for a balanced diet because they work together to keep your
Generalization- functioning properly.
Topic: Balance Diet Diet - Follow the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
(One Paragraph Each Question)
1. What are the concepts I have learned today?
2.What are my learning insights?
3. What are the factors that facilitates my learning?