[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]USDA, HHS jointly released the latest iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans[/title][fusion_text]Thursday, December 7th 2016
The Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services today jointly released the latest iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, putting to bed a great debate about the expected content of the federal dietary advice. The departments bucked the advice of an advisory committee which had suggested that sustainability be added as an additional rationale to follow the guidelines. That suggestion became a source of much controversy, too much for the nutrition advisory document to bear. In the guidelines, USDA and HHS advise cutting back on added sugars and saturated fats and recommend a diet with a variety of fruits, vegetables, and protein foods, including lean meats, a food choice the advisory committee had shunned. This round of guidelines focuses less on recommendations for individual nutrients and more on broader dietary patterns. As the DGA website puts it, “people do not eat food groups and nutrients in isolation but rather in combination, and the totality of the diet forms an overall eating pattern.” The goal behind this approach is to help people meet the guidelines within their own dietary pattern, “enabling Americans to choose the diet that is right for them.”. This is also evidenced by recommendations tailored to different gender and age groups – “teen boys” and “adult men,” for example — based on needed nutrient intake. The online presentation of the guidelines is a splashier version than was seen in the past, visually illustrating, for instance, that one-half cup of green beans and one cup of raw spinach both equate to a one-half cup equivalent of a vegetable portion, to demonstrate the nutrient density of different foods. Livestock and meat groups were pleased with the announcement after having expressed concerns that the document might exclude their products. Many past versions of the dietary advice, which set federal food policy and inform government purchases for school lunch programs and for the Defense Department, had encouraged a diet high in grains like breads and pasta in the form of the well-known food pyramid. In 2010 the “MyPlate” guidelines represented a geometric and ideological shift as USDA and HHS shifted their recommendations to a diet higher in fruits and vegetables by showing how much a typical plate should be covered by various food groups. This iteration of the guidelines had proven to be much more controversial than its predecessors. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee had discussions concerning the potential inclusion of sustainability as a rationale to follow the guidelines, discussions which were criticized by the agricultural community. When the DGAC published its scientific report in February, language concerning sustainability was included. The government should “offer individuals many options and new opportunities to align with personal and population health and environmental values systems,” the scientific report said. The committee also discussed the role lean meat might play in a healthy diet, and offered somewhat conflicting messages on the subject. On one hand, the committee recommended a diet lower in red and processed meats, but included a footnote that said: “As demonstrated in the food pattern modeling of the Healthy U.S.-style and Healthy Mediterranean-style patterns, lean meats can be a part of a healthy diet pattern.” Livestock and meat groups were furious at both discussion points, saying the committee was ignoring the positive nutritional benefits of meat in a healthy diet. Vilsack and Burwell went before the House Agriculture Committee in October to reassure legislators that the guidelines would “remain within the scope of our mandate” as the two put it in a joint statement released the day before the hearing. This round of the guidelines also produced far more public interest than the previous versions, as evidenced by the record 29,000 comments submitted to the departments.
[/fusion_text][/fullwidth]