The food pyramid that represented a healthy diet for almost 20 years now gives way to a food plate, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today.
First lady Michelle Obama, Surgeon General Regina Benjamin and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack unveiled the new icon. It's calledMyPlate, and it has four colored sections representing fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins. Next to the plate is a smaller circle representing dairy products.
"MyPlate is a truly simple, powerful visual cue to help people adopt healthy eating habits at meal times," said Vilsack.
On MyPlate's website, the USDA emphasizes several important nutrition messages: eat smaller portions, make at least half the plate fruits and vegetables and avoid sugary drinks.
Nutrition experts believe a plate is a good choice.
"It answers the simple question, 'What should my plate look like at any given meal?'" said Baltimore nutritionist Monica Reinagel, author of "Nutrition Diva's Secrets for a Healthy Diet."
The original pyramid was released in 1992 and included the four food groups stacked in the shape of a pyramid with the number of recommended servings a person should eat from each group in a day. The widest part of the pyramid shows the foods that should make up most of the diet -- breads, cereals and grains. Fats occupy the top of the pyramid.
The USDA revised the pyramid in 2005. The new symbol expanded the number of food groups to six and also included a person walking up steps on the side of the pyramid to emphasize the need for exercise.
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Nutrition experts are glad to see both versions of the pyramid go. They say they were complicated, and sometimes gave the wrong ideas about certain foods.
"The food pyramid has been described by many as difficult to understand and as the obesity rates would suggest, has gone largely unheeded by many," said Martin Binks, clinical director of Binks Behavioral Health in Durham, N.C.
"The original icon was a bit misleading, e.g., all fats are bad," said Sara Bleich, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. "The [new pyramid] required consumers to go online in order to maximize effectiveness of the food guide."
USDA's Messages On Target
Experts say the new campaign emphasizes the right points.
"The main message should be that half your plate should really be fruits and vegetables," said Kristin Kirkpatrick, wellness manager at the Cleveland Clinic.
"Fruits and vegetables are packed with fiber, essential vitamins and photochemical, which are cancer-fighting substances," said Susan Levin, director of nutrition education at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, D.C. Levin has worked with the USDA previously on its revised U.S. Dietary Guidelines.
The plate makes it easier for people to understand the importance of eating healthier food and also less of it.
"Portion size, even of healthy foods, plays a major role in controlling weight and reducing the risk of a number of chronic diseases," said Marisa Moore, national spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "In counseling, I recommend using a salad plate instead of a dinner plate. Research shows that using a smaller plate -- or glass -- can help reduce the total calories consumed in a meal."
The First Lady says the USDA's new tool goes hand-in-hand with her "Let's Move" campaign designed to reduce childhood obesity by encouraging better nutrition and exercise, and experts Americans will focus on both diet and being active.
"I almost never have a conversation with a patient or consumer without mentioning the need for physical activity, and it's often the missing 'nutrient' in people's lifestyles," said Keith Ayoob, associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y. "It's hard to be optimally healthy without physical activity, and it can really be a game-changer in terms of what and how much you should eat."
1. What are your thoughts about the overall design of the new nutritional icon compared to the food pyramid? Do you think this design is an improvement from the pyramid and why?
ReplyDelete2. The article states that "the main message should be that half your plate should really be fruits and vegetables." Although this may be true, we have discussed in class that access to nutritious foods such as fruits and vegetables are not always a viable option for many low income families. What are some way to improve this issue so ALL families can eat according to the new "My Plate"? (on a small or national scale)
1. I think the "My Plate" is somewhat of an improvement from the pyramid. I felt that the pyramid was much harder to understand that being able to portion on a plate, which everyone uses. My only concern with the Plate is that there is no discussion on exercise. Yes, nutrition is very important, but exercise coincides with it. Another problem I see is that the plate is supposed to help with portion sizes of each food group, but how do you know what size plate to use? If you have a really large plate, then you are obviously not getting the correct portions.
ReplyDelete2. In the documentary, Food Inc., one of the ways that they say (and I completely agree with), is consumer influence. If demand for fruits and veggies increase and demand for highly processed foods decrease, the price will change accordingly. So people can "vote" for this change every time they are at the checkout counter. Another option is to make sure that places like farmers markets accept food stamps (or I think what it is now called SNAPS). That way low-income families can afford to purchase quality local ingredients at an affordable price.
Ashley, your comment about having farmers markets accept EBT is a great idea, especially in regards to the access some groups could gain to nutritious foods. Let's face it, a person from a poor background does not have the same nutritional options as an upper-middle class person in the suburbs. That is something that is still not addressed with this new My Plate concept. How is a person from a distressed economic background supposed to follow these nutritional guidelines when he cannot afford to do so? But with access to farmers markets, poor families could have more options and better adhere to guidelines.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, this new concept is an improvement over the pyramids. I remember being a child in elementary school looking at the food pyramid and being puzzled by serving suggestions. If I remember correctly, one of the food groups had a suggestion of over a dozen servings, but no comment on what a serving actually constituted. So, with this newest concept, I feel like that issue has partially been addressed.
1. I think the new nutritional guide is much more effect than the pyramid, because it displays the food groups on a level playing field, versus the pyramid, which, while pointing out the desired quantity of food, also managed to make the foods at the top seem insignificant.
ReplyDelete2. An obvious solution would be to make fresh produce more readily available for low income families. A more subtle, but effective idea, is to advertise and promote fruits (which are not really that expensive) and make trashy foods less available.
1. I really like the new design of the food pyramid as a "my plate" image. I believe that this is an image and also a concept that people of all ages will be able to better understand. The main goal here is to relay the message that your plate should be full of mostly fruits and vegetables, this is very clear by the segmentation on the diagram. The fact that the plate is such a universal symbol makes this an easier concept for people to accept and adopt.
ReplyDelete2. It is extremely unfortunate that eating healthy usually leads to higher costs at the grocery store. I believe that the only way that we are going to be able to change the way people market food is through our choices as consumers. There is a need for awareness and education in healthy eating and the only way that we will spread that message is through word of mouth and possible nutrition advertisements. In order for every family to be able to eat under the "my plate" diagram prices will need to be lowered. One suggestion that I have is that when people are given food stamps a certain number are marked as only redeemable for produce. Though this may be an expensive program, it is important that people under federal aid are able to eat healthy.
1. The My Plate idea makes a lot more sense than the food guide pyramid, but there is still a lot of information left to the consumer to figure out. The plate should include recommendations of types of foods that fall into the different categories. The categories seem fairly self explanatory, but I think there are a lot of people who probably don't know what foods they should be eating for each section of the plate. My Plate should be simple enough for everyone, including children, to understand, but it should also be detailed enough to provide people who lack nutritional knowledge, some guidance.
ReplyDelete1. Providing low income families with the ability to buy more nutritious foods will take support from grassroots movements, as well as governmental action. There needs to be public policy created that allows for lower-income families to have access to healthier foods. However, as we saw in the video, What's On Your Plate?, sometimes it takes action by normal citizens to create change. The woman in the video, who ran the small farmer's market, talked about her efforts to get fresh produce into the corner grocery stores in her neighborhood. Community efforts like these can help to create awareness and get the process started, so that hopefully, those with more power will be forced to pay attention and step in to help.
1. I've always hated the food pyramid. Mostly because there was a section for sweets. And even though it was the smallest section which is supposed to mean you should eat the least of those, it was on the top, which was always confusing to me as a kid. Also, it made me think they I was supposed to eat a ton of wheat and grains. I like the Food Plate a lot better. It's an actual visualization as to what your plate should look like, and a lot easier to understand visually, in my opinion.
ReplyDelete2. I think this changes how people view their diets. The fact that you have a majority of the plate covered by fruits and veggies is a lot easier to understand than the pyramid, where they were just kind of stuck in the middle. I don't have any solid answers as to how to get people living in low income areas to purchase fresh fruits and veggies, but I think this new design definitely shows that this is supposed to be a major part of our diet, and to make fruits and veggies a priority in our every day diet.
I kind of like the pyramid because it's cool, but I suppose this is a better visual for kids. I think that parents have the most impact on children's diets. I know my parents did, and I still eat my vegetables! No matter how much money you make or if you're a big shot and have chefs preparing your means, aren't you going to want some of mom's cooking? I'm sure Asian people still crave rice when they're in counties who don't eat a great deal of rice. It's what you grow up eating that's important!
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