Editorial: Food-Based Dietary Guidelines

Carla Gonçalves^1,2,3,4*Grigoris Risvas⁵Norman Temple⁶

• ¹Departamento de Biologia e Ambiente, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
• ²Universidade de Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro Centro de Investigacao e de Tecnologias Agro-Ambientais e Biologicas, Vila Real, Portugal
• ³Universidade do Porto Instituto de Saude Publica, Porto, Portugal
• ⁴Centro de Investigacao em Tecnologias e Servicos de Saude, Porto, Portugal
• ⁵Aegean College, Athens, Greece
• ⁶Athabasca University, Athabasca, Canada

The affordability of healthy eating is a cornerstone for the successful implementation of dietary recommendations, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. In their study conducted in Ecuador, Gonzabay-Parrales et al. illustrate the stark economic barriers faced by families in Quito and Guayaquil. The authors show that adhering to a healthy diet requires almost half of the basic monthly salary, making it inaccessible for many households. This work underscores the urgent need for policies that improve access to healthy foods and incentivize local trade between producers and consumers. Without addressing economic constraints, FBDG risk remaining aspirational rather than actionable.Several contributions highlight how actual dietary behaviors align-or fail to align-with recommended guidelines. In Sweden, the study by Mulkerrins et al., assessed food intakes among young adults with different dietary practices. Despite differences in consumption patterns -such as higher intakes of legumes and plant-based substitutes among vegans and vegetarians -the overall adherence to FBDG was low, particularly for fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. Similarly, the study by Rohm et al. with the 3rd Bavarian Food Consumption Survey revealed that a large proportion of adults in Bavaria, Germany, do not meet FBDG recommendations, echoing findings from two decades earlier. Although some improvements were observed, such as reduced meat and soft drink consumption, deficiencies in fruit, vegetable, and whole grain intake persist, with potential risks for nutrient insufficiency. Together, these studies remind us that dietary guidelines are only as effective as the population's capacity and willingness to follow them. Monitoring dietary behaviors over time remains essential to evaluate the impact of guidelines and identify priority areas for intervention.Another group of articles focuses on tools to assess diet quality and their alignment with FBDG. In Canada, Panahimoghadam et al. compared the Healthy Eating Index-Canada, the Diet Quality Index-International, and the Healthy Eating Food Index 2019. The authors show that these indices vary in their discriminatory power and agreement, leading to different interpretations of children's diets. Their call for consensus highlights the importance of methodological alignment to ensure coherent dietary monitoring and policy guidance. In this sense, in the United States, Katz et al. introduced an adaptation of the Healthy Eating Index to better reflect multicultural dietary patterns. This innovation allows recognition of nutritional quality across diverse diets, moving toward more inclusive and equitable assessment tools.Portion size guidance is a core yet often underexplored element of FBDG. Two papers in this Research Topic address this issue directly. The article from Salesse et al. examined methodological approaches to deriving portion sizes across 96 countries, finding limited variation by method but some regional differences, particularly for fish and shellfish. In a second complementary study, the same authors revealed substantial inconsistencies across regions, especially in definitions and classification of food groups. Both studies highlight the potential for harmonizing portion size recommendations to improve clarity and comparability. Supporting such efforts, Fallata et al. provides a structured approach for creating reliable food atlases. These visual tools, which include culturally relevant portion sizes and utensils, can play an important role in dietary assessment and in communicating guidelines to diverse populations until a validation study is conducted.Finally, two articles extend the discussion to the policy arena. The article from De Matteu Monteiro et al. highlights the potential of risk-benefit assessment as a structured, evidence-based approach to guide food and nutrition policy. Despite methodological advances, the translation of such assessments into concrete policies remains limited, calling for stronger integration between science and regulation. In Southeast Asia, Thanh Nguyen et al. evaluated national strategies against international standards. While progress has been made, important gaps remain, particularly in the inclusion of interventions for women and adolescents. This work emphasizes the importance of aligning national policies with global evidence while maintaining sensitivity to local contexts to ensure progress on reducing non-communicable diseases.The contributions to this Research Topic underscore the complexity of designing, implementing, and evaluating FBDG in a rapidly changing food environment. They demonstrate that while methodological progress is being made -through harmonized portion size recommendations, improved diet quality indices, and adaptive toolssignificant challenges remain in terms of affordability, cultural inclusivity, and policy alignment.While the articles included in this Research Topic provide valuable insights into diet affordability, adherence, methodological frameworks, and policy alignment, other important aspects raised in the original call remain underexplored. Future research should address how best to communicate dietary recommendations through effective visual designs, the role and placement of ultra-processed foods within FBDG, and additionally, integrating traditional dietary patterns, social food behaviors, and culturally embedded practices remains a key challenge for ensuring the relevance and uptake of guidelines across diverse populations. Finally, the incorporation of environmentally sustainable advice into FBDG -balancing health, culture, and planetary boundariesshould be prioritized to align dietary recommendations with the urgent goals of food system transformation. By advancing these areas, future research, with greater interdisciplinary collaboration, harmonization of methods across regions, and stronger integration with policies, can help ensure that FBDG remain dynamic, inclusive, and impactful tools for improving both public health, equity and environmental sustainability.