The way in which food has been categorized and presented to the consumer over the past 100 years hasn't really changed much. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been in control of the structure of food groups, and the format of the food pyramid has remained essentially the same since its inception in 1992. Critics such as Walter Willett, chair of the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, believe that even though the current food pyramid has been updated with a healthier overview of the food groups, it's still lacking important information such as portion size, beverages, consumption of salt and sugar, and recommended amount of exercise based on height, weight and age.
History
The first dietary recommendations were developed over 100 years ago by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Caroline Hunt, a nutritionist, conceived five food groups consisting of protein, grains, vegetables and fruits, fats and sugars in 1916, which were revised by the USDA in 1941 back into four food groups. In the 1970s, the way foods were categorized went back to five food groups and remained that way until 1992, when the first Food Guide Pyramid was officially published.
Grains
The first section of the new pyramid is marked with an orange stripe and recommends eating "whole" grains such as oatmeal, brown rice and whole wheat bread to insure you are getting the necessary amount of fiber, iron and vitamins in your diet. It is preceded by a figure of a person climbing stairs to encourage the idea of exercising as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Vegetables
The green stripe of the pyramid covers vegetables. Part of the new interactive structure of the pyramid on the MyPyramid.gov website (see Resources) allows you to go to a list of vegetables grouped by variety to assist you in selecting the recommended vegetables that are dark green and orange in color and assure you are eating a healthier mix each day. Foods such as broccoli, kale, squash, spinach, pumpkin and sweet potatoes fall into the dark green and orange varieties of vegetables.
Fruit
Fresh, canned, frozen or dried fruit is listed in the red stripe section. As with the other categories of the pyramid, the USDA recommends you include a variety of fruits such as apples, berries, melons and oranges in your diet each day.
Oils and Fats
The new food pyramid includes the recommendation to obtain oils and fats from food sources such as fish, avocados and vegetable oils, and to limit consuming fats from meat, shortening, butter and lard.
Dairy
The blue section of the food pyramid includes milk products that preserve the original calcium content occurring naturally in the food, such as low-fat and whole yogurt, hard cheeses, cottage cheese, and drinking low-fat and skim milk as part of a healthy low-fat diet.
Meat and Beans
The last stripe of the food pyramid, purple, covers protein. The USDA recommends obtaining protein from a variety of low-fat, lean sources such as fish, beans and seeds, and preparing them in the oven or on the grill to avoid adding oil and fat to your diet.
Member Comments