Nourishment

Nourishment

The WELL Building Standard™ (WELL) requires the availability of fresh, wholesome foods, limits unhealthy ingredients and encourages better eating habits and food culture.

Background

Nutrition plays a key role in health maintenance, weight management and chronic disease prevention. However, adherence to the dietary recommendations in the U.S. is poor. Similarly, global dietary patterns are also less than optimal; in many countries, people consume more than 500 calories from added sugars per day. In the U.S., half of the population consumes sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) on any given day, with a quarter of the population consuming over 200 calories from SSBs daily. In addition, the average dietary intake of calories in the U.S. in 2010 was nearly 2,600 calories per person per day, which is a 25% increase in energy intake since 1970. Consumption of flour and cereal products, added fats and oils, and added sugars and sweeteners are some of the chief contributors to the increase in caloric intake.

Together with physical inactivity, poor diet is a major contr...read more