Posted on 04/19/2005 2:19:43 PM PDT by 68skylark
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Concerned about steadily expanding waistlines, the government flipped the food pyramid on its side, adding a staircase for exercise and giving consumers 12 individually-tailored models for improving their eating habits.
Inside the pyramid released Tuesday, rainbow-colored bands representing different food groups run vertically from the tip to the base. The old single, triangle-shaped pyramid had a horizontal presentation of food categories that many found confusing.
Exercise is key to the new system. Fitness expert Denise Austin delivered a pep talk about the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity, represented on the new pyramids by the figure of a person climbing steps toward the tip. Also in store are new Internet tools to help follow the guidelines.
The new guide, dubbed ''MyPyramid,'' encourages Americans to customize their diet and exercise regime along 12 models geared to specific calorie needs and levels of physical activity.
Food groups are represented by six different colors: Orange for grains, green for vegetables, red for fruits, yellow for oils, blue for milk products and purple for meats and beans. The bands are wider for grains, vegetables, milk products and fruits, because people should eat more of them.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns called the new guide ''a system of information to help consumers understand how to put nutrition recommendations into action.''
People have steadily grown fatter since the food pyramid debuted in 1992. A report last month in The New England Journal of Medicine contended that obesity, particularly in children, was shaving four to nine months off the average life expectancy.
Johanns said the 1992 pyramid had ''become quite familiar, but few Americans follow the recommendations.'' He said that knowledge about nutrition and food consumption patterns has grown significantly in the past dozen years and is reflected in the new food guidance symbols.
''If we don't change these trends, our children may be the first generation that cannot look forward to a longer life span than their parents,'' said Eric Bost, the Agriculture Department's under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.
Food companies announced Tuesday they will distribute posters and guides for teachers and parents next fall aimed at reaching 4 million students. Materials for students to take home will be in both English and Spanish and will include math, nutrition and science activities.
One big change is intended to help people control their portion sizes. The old pyramid explained its advice in ''serving'' sizes, but now, to make its advice more understandable, the government will switch to cups, ounces and other household measures.
The switch was recommended in a 70-page booklet, ''Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005,'' that was developed by a panel of scientists and doctors and released in January. As the basis for revising the pyramid, the guidelines emphasize choosing good carbohydrates over bad ones; for example, choosing bread made from whole-grain flour instead of white flour.
They also recommend eating 3 ounces of whole-grain foods a day; eating 2 cups of fruit and 2 1/2 cups of vegetables a day; and drinking 3 cups of fat-free or lowfat milk a day.
Besides the suggested 30 minutes of daily exercise to reduce the risk of chronic disease, the government also advises even more exercise to prevent weight gain or maintain weight loss.
In all, there were 23 general recommendations and 18 suggestions for older people, children and other special populations.
That's too much to cram into a symbol that is supposed to be clipped out and stuck to the refrigerator, said Eric Hentges, director of the Agriculture Department's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.
The Agriculture Department will offer Web pages that let people appraise their diet and exercise habits. Such a tool has already been available through the agency's Web site; the Interactive Healthy Eating Index has a notice on its home page that it will soon be updated.
Even if the symbol and online tools don't motivate people to change their habits, they'll still have some healthier choices. Food companies have been removing trans fats from their products and adding whole grains because of the government guidance.
''If you get the industry involved and make them feel that they're doing a good thing and that they're getting credit for doing a good thing, they'll do it. They'll change their product,'' said K. Dun Gifford, president of Oldways Preservation Trust, a Boston-based think tank that specializes in food issues.
Critics have raised questions about the public relations agency hired to help create the new version of the pyramid. The firm, Porter Novelli, has food companies as clients, but both Agriculture Department and Porter Novelli officials have said the firm's industry work is handled separately and there would be no conflict of interest.
Hentges said his staff of scientists, economists and nutritionists isn't equipped to promote its new approach. If it's not marketed effectively, he said, ''then we're not going to be able to get this behavior change or improve anything for Americans.''
There also a story from Reuters on this topic. Click here:
I read this in the local paper a few months ago.
Do you know how much the feds spent on this? Amazing. Changing a food pyramid to a food dodecahedron must have cost a butt load of money.
I'd have taken half the money and said "Eat less, execise more." But that fad diet will never catch on.
"Food groups are represented by six different colors"
Which color does liquor fit into...I want to be sure and get the daily requirement of hops and barley. My doctor told me yesterday I was low on tar so I need to start smoking again;D
I'm familiar with it, but intentionally don't follow the recommendations because it's an ideology-driven crock not based on reality.
The five food groups -
- beer
- potato chips
- burgers
- chocolate fudge
- cigars
You forgot coffee and chocolate!
:-D
Sorry about that!
You DID have fudge on the list!
When will the first person edit the terror alert color system to put in the food alert color system?
They also recommend eating 3 ounces of whole-grain foods a day; eating 2 cups of fruit and 2 1/2 cups of vegetables a day; and drinking 3 cups of fat-free or lowfat milk a day.
Good to know that the dairy/industrial complex's contributions had the right effect. But for only a $1 million more they could have gotten the recommendation up to 5 cups a day.
Oh man....I thought it was salt, sugar, caffeine, and lard.
Well, keep trying, maybe they'll hit it right one of these days, keep spending too.
Oh, man. It's gonna be twelve times the work to ignore all of them as hard as I've been ignoring the one. How's a feller to cope?
I tried going into my own personal pyramid several times and it keeps jamming. Al Gore should have done a better job of inventing the internet!
Life wouldn't be worth living without the martini food group.
Went to the pyramid site. It only works if you can read and write English or Spanish. All the other foreigners are going to die of malnutrition FUR SHUR without this thing.
So was the condom too tight, or what?
j/k
1) Beer
2) Pizza
3) Chocolate (any form)
4) Beer
Pizza falls under the burger group -
- burgers
A - pizza
1a - with mushrooms
2a - with olives
3a - with pepperoni
4a - with sausage
1b - Chicago style
2b - New York style
3b - homemade
See?
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