2010 Dietary Guidelines Committee Continues Deliberations
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are jointly issued and updated every five years by the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS). They provide authoritative advice for people 2 years and older about how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases. The guidelines have far-reaching implications, influencing policy, regulations and consumer messaging.
Planning for the 2010 guidelines is well underway. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee held its fourth meeting last month. While listening to subgroup reports from this meeting, I identified several key themes threading through the committee's deliberations:
· In light of the nation's obesity epidemic, nutrient density and energy balance are at the core of committee deliberations.
· While past committees have targeted individual nutrients and food groups, the 2010 committee is focusing on a more consumer-friendly total diet pattern.
· Achieving optimal nutrient intake while controlling calories is the ultimate goal; however, the committee acknowledges, however, that recognizing how people really eat and encouraging incremental change is the approach mostly likely to succeed, albeit at a slower pace.
· Throughout their deliberation, committee members are examining how dietary habits in children affect adult health - for example hypertension and heart disease.
The committee strongly endorsed energy balance as the underlying force driving a reversal of the nation's obesity crisis. In fact, committee members agreed that the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, issued by the HHS, should be an inseparable companion to the Dietary Guidelines.
