The United States Department of Agriculture is a government organization that oversees all aspects of food, from safety to dietary recommendations to distribution. The USDA also created the original food pyramid, a graphic representation of how much food from each food group you need for a healthy diet. The pyramid is periodically revised to reflect new nutritional data. The USDA also publishes Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which gives more in-depth information about the recommendations in the food pyramid.
History
The first USDA food pyramid was produced in 1992 and periodically revised with the last revision being in 2010. In 2005, the food pyramid was turned on its side and made into an interactive guide called MyPyramid. Different age groups had different guidelines for the first time on the 2005 pyramid. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are updated every five years, drive the revisions on the food pyramid.
Issues
Turning the pyramid on its side in 2005 made it harder to read, while varying the recommendations for different age groups made it harder for people to use and understand. There are no pictures or words on the new pyramid, which previously gave a graphic and easy to grasp explanation for different food categories. Unless you know what food groups the stripes on the new pyramid represent, you won't readily know what they mean. While the interactive feature makes the pyramid more accurate for different groups, not everyone has access to a computer or can figure out how to plug their information into the database, Harvard School of Public Health states. Critics of the pyramid and Dietary Guidelines complain that they don't reflect current nutrition knowledge and are too heavily influenced by lobbyists and outside interest groups, according to Harvard.
2010 Guidelines
The 2010 guidelines put more emphasis on the growing obesity epidemic, stating that in the late 1970s,15 percent of Americans were obese compared to 32 percent in 2008. Efforts to reduce the obesity rates were discussed. Reducing sodium to less than 2,300 mg and, for some Americans, to less than 1,500 mg, consuming no more than 10 percent of daily calories in the form of saturated fats, consuming no more than half your grains as refined grains and limiting cholesterol intake, were all stressed. The report also suggests limiting refined grains and limiting trans fats, which are found in processed foods as much as possible. Substituting low-fat or fat-free dairy products for whole-fat diary was also stressed, along with new emphasis on eating more fish as a source of protein.
Effects
The Dietary Guidelines and the food pyramid have farther-reaching consequences than it might seem. The Dietary Guidelines establish standards for school nutrition programs, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. School lunch programs impact what school children at more than 101,000 schools eat each day for lunch and, in some cases, breakfast.
References
- USDA: Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010
- Harvard School of Public Health: Food Pyramids: What Should you Really Eat? 2011
- Nutrition Review;Improving the Food Pyramid; Jim English; 2010
- Harvard School of Public Health: New U.S. Dietary Guidelines: Progress, Not Perfection; 2011
- USDA: National School Lunch Program: September 2010
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