New US Dietary Guidelines Call for “Lifestyle Approach”

The 2010 DGAC report concludes that good health and optimal functionality across the life span are achievable goals but require a lifestyle approach including a total diet that is energy balanced and nutrient dense.

16 Jun 2010 --- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius have announced that public comments are now being accepted on  the Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 (Advisory Report).

The 2010 DGAC report concludes that good health and optimal functionality across the life span are achievable goals but require a lifestyle approach including a total diet that is energy balanced and nutrient dense. Now, as in the past, a disconnect exists between dietary recommendations and what Americans actually consume. On average, Americans of all ages consume too few vegetables, fruits, high-fiber whole grains, low-fat milk and milk products, and seafood and they eat too much added sugars, solid fats, refined grains, and sodium. SoFAS (added sugars and solid fats) contribute approximately 35 percent of calories to the American diet. This is true for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults and for both males and females. Reducing the intake of SoFAS can lead to a badly needed reduction in energy intake and inclusion of more healthful foods into the total diet.

The diet recommended in this Report is not a rigid prescription. Rather, it is a flexible approach that incorporates a wide range of individual tastes and food preferences. Accumulating evidence documents that certain dietary patterns consumed around the world are associated with beneficial health outcomes. Patterns of eating that have been shown to be healthful include the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-style dietary patterns and certain Mediterranean-style dietary patterns. Similarly, the USDA Food Patterns illustrate that both nutrient adequacy and moderation goals can be met in a variety of ways. The daunting public health challenge is to accomplish population-wide adoption of healthful dietary patterns within the context of powerful influences that currently promote unhealthy consumer choices, behaviors, and lifestyles.

The four major findings that emerged from the DGAC’s review of the scientific evidence and articulates steps that can be taken to help all Americans adopt health-promoting nutrition and physical activity guidelines are:

• Reduce the incidence and prevalence of overweight and obesity of the US population by reducing overall calorie intake and increasing physical activity.

• Shift food intake patterns to a more plant-based diet that emphasizes vegetables, cooked dry beans and peas, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. In addition, increase the intake of seafood and fat-free and low-fat milk and milk products and consume only moderate amounts of lean meats, poultry, and eggs.

• Significantly reduce intake of foods containing added sugars and solid fats because these dietary components contribute excess calories and few, if any, nutrients. In addition, reduce sodium intake and lower intake of refined grains, especially refined grains that are coupled with added sugar, solid fat, and sodium.

• Meet the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

The 2010 DGAC recognizes that substantial barriers make it difficult for Americans to accomplish these goals. Ensuring that all Americans consume a health-promoting dietary pattern and achieve and maintain energy balance requires far more than individual behavior change. A multi-sectoral strategy is imperative. For this reason, the 2010 DGAC strongly recommends that USDA and HHS convene appropriate committees, potentially through the Institute of Medicine (IOM), to develop strategic plans focusing on the actions needed to successfully implement key 2010 DGAC recommendations. Separate committees may be necessary because the actions needed to implement key recommendations likely differ by goal.

A coordinated strategic plan that includes all sectors of society, including individuals, families, educators, communities, physicians and allied health professionals, public health advocates, policy makers, scientists, and small and large businesses (e.g., farmers, agricultural producers, food scientists, food manufacturers, and food retailers of all kinds), should be engaged in the development and ultimate implementation of a plan to help all Americans eat well, be physically active, and maintain good health and function. It is important that any strategic plan is evidence-informed, action-oriented, and focused on changes in systems in these sectors.
Any and all systems-based strategies must include a focus on children. Primary prevention of obesity must begin in childhood. This is the single most powerful public health approach to combating and reversing America’s obesity epidemic over the long term.

Strategies to help Americans change their dietary intake patterns and be physically active also will go a long way to ameliorating the disparities in health among racial and ethnic minorities and among different socioeconomic groups, which have been recognized as a significant concern for decades. While the reasons for these differences are complex and multifactorial, this Report addresses research indicating that certain dietary changes can provide a means to reduce health disparities.

Change is needed in the overall food environment to support the efforts of all Americans to meet the key recommendations of the 2010 DGAC. To meet these challenges, the following sustainable changes must occur:

• Improve nutrition literacy and cooking skills, including safe food handling skills, and empower and motivate the population, especially families with children, to prepare and consume healthy foods at home.

• Increase comprehensive health, nutrition, and physical education programs and curricula in US schools and preschools, including food preparation, food safety, cooking, and physical education classes and improved quality of recess.

CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan responded to the report by stating, “Basic nutrition advice hasn't changed much over the 30 years that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans has been published. That key report has long advised people to eat less unhealthy fats, salt, and added sugars and more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains—and, for the most part, that advice has been ignored by individuals and institutions. The new Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report, at long last, recognizes that what is most needed is an unprecedented effort to help people follow the Dietary Guidelines, including changes in policy and the food environment. The report wisely recommends that USDA and HHS develop a national strategy to help people eat better, including ramping up nutrition education, expanding access to fruits and vegetables, and getting industry to provide more healthful products.”