Creating healthy eating guidelines is tough for poorer countries that don’t have enough money or data to do it properly. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) created a new computer tool called FAO DietSolve to help solve this problem. The tool uses simple math and Microsoft Excel to figure out the best mix of foods that meet nutritional needs while also considering what people actually like to eat, what they can afford, and how it affects the environment. Eight countries have already used this tool to develop their own healthy eating guidelines, showing it’s a practical solution for countries with limited resources.

The Quick Take

  • What they studied: A new computer tool designed to help poorer countries create healthy eating guidelines by automatically finding the best combination of foods that meet nutrition needs
  • Who participated: The research describes a tool used by eight low- and middle-income countries to develop their national dietary guidelines. No specific human study participants were involved; instead, the paper demonstrates how the tool works
  • Key finding: FAO DietSolve successfully helped eight countries develop practical, healthy eating guidelines by using a mathematical approach to balance nutrition requirements with cultural preferences, cost, and environmental impact
  • What it means for you: If you live in a country that’s developing new healthy eating guidelines, this tool may help create recommendations that are healthier, more affordable, and better suited to your local food culture. However, this is a tool for government and health officials, not something individuals use directly

The Research Details

This paper presents FAO DietSolve, a new computer tool designed to help countries create healthy eating guidelines. The researchers explain how the tool works using a made-up example to show the step-by-step process. The tool uses a mathematical approach called optimization, which is like having a computer find the best answer from many possible combinations. It uses a free feature in Microsoft Excel (called Solver) to combine different food groups in ways that meet nutritional requirements while staying within budget and respecting local food preferences.

The tool works by setting up rules (constraints) that the food combinations must follow. These rules include meeting specific nutrition targets like calories, vitamins, and minerals, while also setting minimum and maximum amounts for different food groups based on what people actually eat and prefer. The computer then finds the best combination that satisfies all these rules at once.

The researchers also explain how the tool fits into the bigger picture of developing dietary guidelines, which involves experts from different fields working together to create recommendations that are healthy, sustainable, and practical for their country.

Many poorer countries struggle to create healthy eating guidelines because they lack the money, technical experts, and data that richer countries have. Before this tool, countries had to use a slow trial-and-error process where experts would manually adjust food amounts until they met nutrition requirements. This was time-consuming and could be biased. FAO DietSolve automates this process, making it faster, more objective, and available to countries that couldn’t afford expensive software or consultants. This matters because good dietary guidelines can help prevent diseases like diabetes and heart disease while also supporting local agriculture and protecting the environment.

This paper is a tool description and methodology paper rather than a traditional research study testing a hypothesis. The strength of this work comes from the fact that the tool has already been used by eight real countries to develop their actual dietary guidelines, showing it works in practice. The tool is based on established mathematical optimization methods and uses free, widely available software (Microsoft Excel), making it accessible. However, the paper doesn’t provide detailed results from those eight countries or compare outcomes to other methods. The tool’s effectiveness ultimately depends on the quality of the food and nutrition data available in each country, which varies widely in low- and middle-income nations.

What the Results Show

FAO DietSolve has been successfully used by eight low- and middle-income countries to develop their national dietary guidelines. The tool generated optimized dietary patterns—meaning recommended combinations of foods that meet all nutritional requirements while considering cost, cultural preferences, and environmental impact. These optimized patterns were then used to create food selection guides tailored to different population groups (like children, adults, and pregnant women) and to design food graphics that help people understand the guidelines.

The tool’s mathematical approach ensures that all nutritional requirements are met while keeping recommendations practical and culturally appropriate. By automating the process of finding the best food combinations, the tool saves time and reduces the subjective decisions that experts might make differently. The fact that eight countries have already adopted it for their official guidelines demonstrates that the tool produces results that government health officials find useful and trustworthy.

The tool also allows countries to consider multiple goals at the same time—not just nutrition, but also cost-effectiveness and environmental sustainability. This means the dietary patterns it creates can help address multiple challenges facing low- and middle-income countries, such as malnutrition, food affordability, and environmental protection.

The tool’s flexibility is an important secondary finding. It can be customized to different population groups with different nutritional needs, such as children, pregnant women, and adults. The tool can also incorporate different priorities depending on what matters most to each country—some might prioritize minimizing cost, while others might prioritize environmental sustainability or matching current eating patterns. This adaptability makes it useful across different countries with different challenges and resources. The tool also supports the creation of visual food guides and graphics, which are important for helping ordinary people understand and follow dietary guidelines.

Before FAO DietSolve, countries developing dietary guidelines typically used manual, trial-and-error approaches where nutrition experts would repeatedly adjust food group amounts until requirements were met. This process was slow, subjective, and required significant technical expertise. Some countries used expensive commercial software that wasn’t affordable for poorer nations. FAO DietSolve improves on these approaches by automating the process, using free software, and making it systematic and objective. It also represents a newer approach to dietary guidelines that considers the entire food system—not just nutrition, but also sustainability, cost, and cultural factors—rather than just focusing on nutrients alone.

This paper describes a tool and its methodology rather than testing it through a controlled research study, so we don’t have detailed comparisons of how well it works compared to other methods. The tool’s success depends heavily on the quality and completeness of food and nutrition data available in each country, which varies widely in low- and middle-income nations. Some countries may have better food consumption data than others, which could affect the quality of the results. The paper doesn’t provide detailed information about the specific outcomes from the eight countries that used the tool, so we can’t see exactly how well the guidelines worked in practice or whether people actually followed them. Additionally, the tool requires some technical knowledge to use properly, which might be a barrier in countries with very limited resources or technical capacity.

The Bottom Line

For government health officials and nutrition experts in low- and middle-income countries: FAO DietSolve appears to be a practical, evidence-based tool for developing dietary guidelines that are tailored to your country’s needs, resources, and food culture (Moderate confidence). The tool is most useful if your country has reasonable food consumption data and nutrition information available. For the general public: If your country uses this tool to develop new dietary guidelines, the resulting recommendations should be more practical and culturally appropriate than guidelines developed without such systematic methods (Moderate confidence). However, the effectiveness of any dietary guidelines depends on whether people actually follow them and have access to the recommended foods.

This tool is primarily designed for government health officials, nutrition experts, and policy makers in low- and middle-income countries who are developing or updating national dietary guidelines. It’s also relevant for international organizations and NGOs that support countries in nutrition policy development. The general public should care about this because better dietary guidelines can lead to healthier eating recommendations that are actually affordable and culturally appropriate for their communities. This tool is NOT designed for individual consumers to use directly—it’s a tool for experts and officials.

The timeline for seeing benefits depends on the stage of implementation. Countries can use FAO DietSolve relatively quickly to develop dietary patterns (weeks to months), but translating those patterns into actual behavior change in the population takes much longer. Once guidelines are published, it typically takes 1-2 years to see awareness increase, and 2-5 years to see measurable changes in eating patterns and health outcomes in the population. The tool itself can speed up the guideline development process by months compared to manual methods.

Want to Apply This Research?

  • If your country’s dietary guidelines are based on FAO DietSolve, track your daily food group consumption against the recommended amounts. For example, log servings of grains, vegetables, fruits, proteins, and dairy daily, then compare your weekly totals to the recommended ranges in your country’s guidelines
  • Use your country’s food selection guide or food graphics (created from FAO DietSolve results) to plan meals that match the recommended food combinations. Start by identifying which food groups you’re eating too much or too little of, then gradually adjust your shopping and meal planning to better match the guidelines
  • Track your adherence to the dietary guidelines over 4-week periods. Monitor not just what you eat, but also how you feel, your energy levels, and any health markers (like weight or blood pressure if you measure them). This helps you see whether following the guidelines actually improves how you feel and your health outcomes

This paper describes a tool for developing dietary guidelines, not a treatment or intervention for any medical condition. FAO DietSolve is designed for use by government health officials and nutrition experts, not for individual medical advice. The dietary guidelines created using this tool should be followed as general recommendations for healthy eating, but individual nutritional needs may vary. If you have specific health conditions, allergies, or dietary restrictions, consult with a healthcare provider or registered dietitian for personalized advice. The effectiveness of any dietary guidelines depends on food availability, affordability, and individual adherence in your community.