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Government's New Food Guide: Does It Clarify or Confuse?
It's been said that a camel is a horse designed by committee. What should we make of the new food guidance system, called "Steps to a Healthier You," unveiled April 19 by the Department of Agriculture (USDA)?
Gone is the multi-level Food Guide Pyramid familiar to consumers since 1992, with its broad base of grains and legumes, topped by fewer servings of vegetables and fruits, then meat and dairy, and the smallest portion at the peak occupied by fats, oils, and sweets. The new system breaks from the old idea that all fats are bad with recommendations for intake on different kinds of fats. And rather than focus on "complex carbohydrates," the new guidelines suggest limiting sugar intake and emphasize the benefits of whole grains.
The face of the new symbol, called "MyPyramid," features colorful slivers representing various food groups. A human figure leaps up steps on the side of the pyramid as a reminder that physical activity is part of the health equation. "One size doesn't fit all," USDA says, reminding us that people's caloric requirements differ.
The old pyramid was simple, but the new one offers depth and extra features. The supporting Web site (www.MyPyramid.gov) provides visitors personalized dietary recommendations—useful information perhaps, but only available to people with computers.
DOC News asked:
Is the new food pyramid an adequate tool to help all people make healthy food choices? Why or why not?
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The graphic is fairly good. I like the way it's drawn. It indicates that no matter what combination of food you have, you're going to have to have physical activity. That's good. And it all builds towards the top. I sorta miss the building block approach of the old food pyramid. But the new one is good.
Eric Jackman Architect Washington, D.C.
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It's long overdue that the food pyramid is revised. We have been taking America down a disastrous path of eating. If we're going to [address] how Americans are now—overweight, diabetic, [with] metabolic syndrome and all that—we have to revise the way we eat.
I don't think the new pyramid is perfect, but it's an improvement. Clearly, we've never emphasized enough how important fruits and vegetables are. Physical activity is really something we have forgotten. The reason why America is the way it is—fat and burdened down with chronic diseases—is because of the fact that we've taken physical activity out of our daily lives, starting with our children.
Unless we go back, we will be a country where the life expectancy is going down instead of going up.
James Reed, MD Endocrinology Atlanta, Ga.
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Although I thought the old food pyramid was a kind of misrepresentation, the new food pyramid is more complicated and fewer people are going to use it.
As far as a graphical distribution, the old one put your fatty and less healthy foods at the top of the pyramid. Even though it's in a smaller box, it's at the top. I was a nutrition major as an undergrad. As I recall, that was influenced by the dairy farmers, to have their products at the top. The new pyramid is more informative, but it's very complicated.
Seth Bender, MD Internal Medicine Rochester, N.Y.
TALK BACK: PRICE PER POUND
The expansion of American waistlines has forced some U.S. companies to make a number of adjustments. Clothing stores are offering larger sizes. Furniture manufacturers are making wider chairs.
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Airlines pay an extra $275 million per year for fuel to carry the 10-lb gain the average American has put on over the last decade. Calling it a comfort and safety issue, Dallas-based Southwest airlines in 2002 began requiring passengers to purchase two tickets if they cannot fit in one 18.75-inch wide airplane seat. Other airlines, including Continental and American Airlines, have similar policies.
Some advocates for the overweight argue that not accommodating their size is a form of discrimination. Others have proposed that people should pay for some services according to how much they weigh and how much space they take up.
What do you think? Should airline and theater seats be made wider to accommodate America's growing girth? Should obese people pay more for these services?
Send your comments to docnews{at}diabetes.org.
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