South African efforts to address both under‐ and overnutrition , and other nutrition‐related public health issues, utilizing food‐based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) as an educational tool, are introduced. However, the focus is placed on the development of paediatric FBDGs for infants and young children, from birth up to the age of 7 years, and how these were made compatible with scientific and local public health evidence on the one hand, and existing South African FBDGs for children over the age of 7 years, adolescents and adults, on the other. Members of the Working Group and other stakeholders are gratefully acknowledged.