Food-based dietary guidelines: a comparative analysis between the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population 2006 and 2014

Objective In 2014, the Brazilian Ministry of Health launched the second edition of the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population (DGBP), which deploys the new food classification NOVA. It esteems that the second DGBP overcomes the limitations in the previous food guide, reformulating the diet concepts, food pattern, culture and system. The present paper analyses the advances and limits established in the second edition, contrasting with its first edition. Design The study employs a discourse analysis. The corpus was established through four stages: (i) floating reading of the empirical materials; (ii) deepening readings; (iii) selected discursive sequences; and (iv) organization of the discursive sequences into a matrix for analysis. The data analysis used three steps: (i) identification of similar texts in external materials; (ii) elucidation of linguistic effect through deepening readings of the external materials; and (iii) systematic analysis to identify sequences that expressed equivalence or disparities. Setting Brazil. Subjects DGBP 2006 and 2014. Results Adoption of the NOVA food classification, based on food processing level, enabled the development of dietary guidelines that consider the limitations of the nutritional discourse and may incorporate the sociocultural and social-environmental discourses, evoking pleasure in food, diversity of feeding habits and stimulating culinary practices as promoters of healthy eating practices. Conclusions The second DGBP enables a new way of thinking about meals and foods, on the strengthening of socio-cultural dimensions of feeding, and on addressing food and nutritional guidelines on culinary practices, eating and edibility.