Building On the Old With a New Addition

         After a lengthy wait and amid much fanfare, the new food pyramid was introduced last week.  Actually, it was a somewhat of a surprise that the USDA’s nutrition symbol was still a pyramid.

          The first food pyramid was introduced in 1992 and almost instantaneously became a nutrition celebrity.   Over the past thirteen years though, our understanding of the connection between diet and health has seen some major advances.  So the old Food Guide Pyramid was retired and replaced with MyPyramid. 

          Six paths of color sweep from the top of MyPyramid to its base.  Orange for grains, green for vegetables, red for fruits, a small band of yellow for oils, blue for milk and purple for meats and beans. Each stripe starts out as the same size, but finish differently.  The varying widths suggest how much food a person should choose from each group.  A band of stairs running up the side of the MyPyramid, with a stick figure, serves as a reminder of the importance of physical activity.  It contains no text. 

          Julie Garden-Robinson, NDUS Extension Service food and nutrition specialist, reminds us that MyPyramid is based on recommendations from new dietary guidelines that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released in January.  The dietary guidelines stress that good eating habits can promote better health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

          Like the food guide pyramid, the MyPyramid symbol represents the recommended proportion of foods from each food group and emphasizes the importance of making smart choices in every food group every day  The stairs and stick figure of MyPyramid remind us that health experts recommend people do at least 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week to lower the risk of chronic illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer.  The same health experts suggest doing up to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity most days to lose weight or keep off excess weight.

          The USDA’s web site, www.mypyramid.gov can help people determine how much they should consume of each food group based on their age, gender and activity level.  The web site also provides menu suggestions and work sheets that people can print out to help them keep track of what they eat, develop a healthier diet and determine the amount of physical activity they need to fit into their eating habits and lifestyle.