The Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2022 - principles and methodologies.

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• The Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNRs) provide the scientific foundation for dietary reference values (DRVs) and food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) in Nordic and Baltic nations.
• The NNRs are crucial for informing public health and dietary policies in the region.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish robust principles and methodologies for the sixth edition of the NNR (NNR2022).
• To ensure NNR2022 aligns with contemporary best practices in nutrition science and policy development.

Main Methods:

• Building upon the methodologies of the previous NNR edition.
• Conducting a comprehensive review of recent nutrition recommendations from national and international bodies.
• Utilizing a consensus-driven process within the NNR2022 Committee to agree on updated principles and methodologies.
• Establishing a NNR Systematic Review (SR) Centre for prioritized topics and incorporating existing qualified SRs.

Main Results:

• Development of an organizational model with 'checks and balances' to mitigate subjective bias.
• Individual nutrient and food group chapters will be updated using scoping reviews.
• Systematic reviews (SRs) will form the core evidence base for evaluating nutrient-health outcome relationships.
• Qualified external SRs will be leveraged to optimize resource use and avoid duplication.

Conclusions:

• The defined evidence-based methods for NNR2022 are compatible with leading international approaches.
• The NNR2022 project emphasizes the use of SRs to ensure dietary guidelines are informed by the best available evidence.
• Global harmonization of methodological approaches for nutrition recommendations is encouraged to enhance consistency and impact.