Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced the release of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the federal government's evidence-based nutritional guidance to promote health, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity through improved nutrition and physical activity.
Because more than one-third of children and more than two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese, the 7th edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans places stronger emphasis on reducing calorie consumption and increasing physical activity.
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans include 23 Key Recommendations for the general population and six additional Key Recommendations for specific population groups, such as women who are pregnant. Key Recommendations are the most important messages within the Guidelines in terms of their implications for improving public health.
The recommendations are intended as an integrated set of advice to achieve an overall healthy eating pattern. To get the full benefit, all Americans should carry out the Dietary Guidelines recommendations in their entirety.
More consumer-friendly advice and tools, including a next generation Food Pyramid, will be released by USDA and HHS in the coming months. Below is a preview of some of the tips that will be provided to help consumers translate the Dietary Guidelines into their everyday lives:
- Enjoy your food, but eat less.
- Avoid oversized portions.
- Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
- Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.
- Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals – and choose the foods with lower numbers.
- Drink water instead of sugary drinks.
A copy of the guidelines can be found here.
The AHA has responded to the release of the guidelines:
The American Heart Association welcomes the release of the new dietary guidelines issued today by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS), which emphasize the importance of weight control and eating a diet that has the most nutrients for the least calories and includes a focus on eating more plant-based foods, avoiding added sugars and getting adequate physical activity.
Many of the recommendations in the new guidelines are similar to the diet score that is being used by the American Heart Association to define ideal cardiovascular health as part of the organization’s 2020 goals. The diet score includes recommendations on consumption of fruits and vegetables, fiber-rich whole-grains, sodium, sugar-sweetened beverages and fish.
However, the American Heart Association is deeply disappointed in the federal guidelines’ recommendations on sodium and saturated fat — considered a backwards step from the dietary guidelines released in 2005, and also not consistent with USDA/HHS’s own Advisory Committee recommendations, released in June 2010.
The guidelines’ new sodium recommendation advises about half of the population — including those 51 years and older and those of any age who are African Americans or have hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease — to reduce daily sodium intake to less than 1500 mg. However, significantly, for those who don’t fall into those categories, the recommendation is to reduce intake to just 2,300 mg of sodium per day.
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