Background
FAO/WHO and Eurodiet demand that FBDG should be developed that take account of national dietary habits. Meal habits are even more influenced by cultural backgrounds than food consumption.

Aim
For children and adolescents, dietary guidelines should be as close as possible to every day’s practice. Therefore, we have developed Food and Meal Based Dietary Guidelines (FMBDG) for children and adolescents in Germany.

Methods
Dietary habits were assessed in the ongoing DONALD Study (Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed Study) since 1985. Qualitative and quantitave (age dependent) FBDG have been deduced and controlled for nutrient adequacy by the German reference nutrient intakes (DACH, 2000). Meal specific food and nutrient intakes were examined based on a typical weekly menu.

Results
Compared to preventive guidelines, German children and adolescents eat too little plant foods (vegetables, cereals) and too much high-fat animal products (milk, meat) and confectionary resulting in high intakes of fat (36-38 energy intake % or E%), saturated fatty acids (15-18 E%) and added sugars (12-14 E%). To improve present-day dietary habits and to reach DACH nutrient values for macronutrients (E%) and micronutrients (g(mg)/MJ) a well-designed dietary concept of an optimized mixed diet named optimiX has been developed covering the age groups from 1 to 18 years. FBDG include ‚recommended‘ foods with high nutrient densities (> 90 % of total energy) and ‚tolerated‘ foods, e.g. confectionary. FMBDG for 5 daily meals presented in the form of pyramides respect meal specific nutrient profiles particular for the warm (midday) meal (17- 46 % of daily intake of various nutrients).

Conclusion
The concept of optimiX respects German food and meal habits and covers nutritional needs of 1-18 year-old children and adolescents by mutual completion of food and nutrient patterns of the different daily meals.