Column: Transforming the Food Guide Pyramid

By Judson Allen

Four days after some Americans celebrated the 50th birthday of McDonald’s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) celebrated the beginning of its new and diverse food guide pyramid on April 19. With its new extreme makeover, the USDA decided to replace the old pyramid, which was introduced back in 1992. The USDA’s primary focus of change is to invoke an increase in physical activity and whole grain consumption, white grain moderation, food variety and individualization.

With almost more than 2/3 of the American population being considered obese or overweight, the USDA feels a sense of urgency to adopt a new system that would encourage as well as provide individuals with the fundamental methods on how to live healthier lifestyles. With the slogan “Steps to a Healthier You,” they illustrate a person climbing a set of stairs on the outside of the pyramid to depict the importance of exercise. To personally customize eating styles, they offer 12 models of the pyramid, each geared towards different people depending on one’s age, sex, specific calorie needs and levels of physical activity. With these varied models, everyone can find a pyramid that best suits their needs.

Inside of this contemporary artistically designed pyramid, there are no longer the confusing horizontal blocks, but now, rainbow-colored vertical stripes that represent the five food groups, as well as fats and oils. Each color represents a food group: orange for grains, green for vegetables, red for fruits, blue for milk and dairy products, purple for meat, beans, fish and nuts and yellow for oils.

This pyramid also follows the new dietary guidelines that were released earlier this year by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the USDA. They recommend 2 cups of fruit and 2 1/2 cups of veggies a day, along with 3 ounces of whole grain foods, 3 cups of fat-free or low-fat milk and at least 30 minutes of exercise 3-5 days a week. Although these are the recommended values, note that serving sizes may vary depending on age, gender and activity level. The previous food guide pyramid did not specify what a “serving size” meant, therefore many people found it unclear and would overestimate the amount of food they consumed. The new idea is to provide household measurements that are easily understood by the average consumer, such as cups and ounces.

If you take a look at the new food guide pyramid, you can see that the vertical bands for meat and protein (purple) and oils (yellow) are skinnier than the others. This shows that you need less of these kinds of foods than that of fruits, veggies, grains and dairy. You also notice that the bands get thinner as they reach the top of the pyramid. This conveys that not all foods are created equally.

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To help you get the nutrients you need, let this newly designed food guide pyramid steer your daily food choices. Along with this pyramid you can visit www.mypyramid.gov, which is a new interactive Web site offering more customized advice about nutrition and exercise. The interactive technology enables users of the site to enter their age and physical activity level and then see immediately which one of 12 available dietary models best fits their personal information.