The Food Guide Pyramid
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is a government agency that researches the diet of Americans and makes recommendations about the type of food Americans should eat. To make these suggestions they study the nutrition that the human body needs for energy and growth the amount of vitamins, proteins, and minerals that people should take into their bodies every day. Once they understand the nutritional needs, food. Their recommendations tell people what food they should eat to meet their nutritional requirements. The USDA hopes that their recommendations will influence what Americans eat.
In 1992, the USDA created The Food Guide Pyramid to share these recommendations with people. The Pyramid condensed 70 pages of recommendations into an image that was clear and useful to the public. The pyramid helped people choose what and how much to eat in order to get the nutrients they needed.
In 2005, the USDA updated the pyramid so that each person can now get personalized advice about diet and exercise. The new, online My Pyramid, found at www.MyPyramid.gov, comes in 12 versions depending on person’s activity level and need for calories. Eric M. Bost, the Agriculture Department’s undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services, think that this new pyramid is a good idea because diet is a serious issue in the U.S. He said that 65% of adults ages 20 to 74 are overweight.
There is some controversy about the recommendations on the new pyramid. Some public health officials think that it should say more about the foods to avoid, not just the foods to choose. Others are happy to see that the recommended serving sizes are more specific. The debate continues as scientists, researchers, and the public voice their different opinions about MyPyramid.
Even though there is controversy and the recommendations are not complete, the USDA says that people should not use this as a reason to ignore the recommendations. The goal of the old and the new pyramid is to encourage people not to eat only for pleasure, but to think about how to get the nutrients and exercise that their bodies need. True, it might be hard to follow the recommendations, but people should not give up and eat whatever they want, whenever they want.