Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of mortality in the world. Modifiable risk factors such as unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol are major risk factors. Among other dietary factors, the amounts of saturated fatty acids (SFA) and trans-fatty acids (TFA) in the diet have been explored as possible contributors to the development of CVDs.SFA are found primarily in foods from animal sources and in some plant-derived oils and fats. TFA can be produced industrially by the partial hydrogenation of vegetable and fish oils, but also occur naturally in meat and dairy products from ruminant animals (e.g. cattle, sheep, goats, camels). Because the role of SFA and TFA in the development of CVDs continues to be debated, it was considered important to review the evidence in a systematic manner, and update current World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on these fatty acids through the WHO guideline development process.

心血管疾病(CVD)是全球死亡的主要原因。饮食不健康、缺乏体力活动、吸烟和有害饮酒等可改变的危险因素是主要危险因素。在其他饮食因素中，已探索饮食中饱和脂肪酸(SFA)和反式脂肪酸(TFA)的量可能导致CVD的发生。SFA主要存在于动物来源的食物和一些植物来源的油和脂肪中。TFA可以通过植物油和鱼油的部分氢化工业生产，但也天然存在于反刍动物（如牛、绵羊、山羊、骆驼）的肉和乳制品中。由于SFA和TFA在CVD发生中的作用仍存在争议，因此认为系统性审查证据并通过WHO指南制定过程更新世界卫生组织(WHO)关于这些脂肪酸的现行指南非常重要。