USDA Guideline Updates; Guiding Towards Change- by Jacquelyn G. Thompson
USDA Guideline Updates
Guiding Towards Change
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aka. "That Little Buff Chef"
The USDA guidelines are a changing and evolving set of
regulations, based on the eating patterns of American’s as well as based on current
dietary recommendations to address disease, chronic illness, or nutrient
deficiencies affecting Americans, utilizing guidance on eating patterns and
amounts as a way to help individuals meet basic health needs and address these
concerns through helping them make informed dietary choices and be able to best
self-monitor things like portion control.
The Lowdown on Label Laws
These regulations are updated every 5 years to best reflect
needs that help achieve basic health markers as well as to adapt to match
nutritional information with realistic eating patterns. One of the biggest
updates was that of changes being made to the nutrition facts label, which has
not changed in more than 20 years (1). Some of these updates include changes to
daily values (%DV), an emphasis on serving size and calories, and updated
portion sizes of some foods themselves to match actual consumption, such as
individual drink bottles counting as one serving or an increase in a standard
serving of ice cream to closer match what a typical consumer would portion out
for themselves as opposed to consuming more especially in the case of altered
serving sizes or “health framing” which this update additionally aims to
prevent (2)(3).
These
adjustments allow for more realistic information on portions to be provided to
the consumer. Additionally key changes in the layout to the nutrition panel
have also been made to address consumer needs such as larger font sizes making
it easier to not only find information on calories and portion size, but also
for those such as elderly or international consumers, or those with issues
revolving around English language or literacy providing numerical information
in a larger and easier to find format (3), as well as a more detailed display
of carbohydrate breakdown including fiber, sugars, added sugars, and total
carbohydrates. This update is meant to help consumers make informed decisions
to meet one of the new recommendations of consuming less than 10% of total
calories in the form of added sugar as obesity and diabetes are a growing
concern for all groups and ages of American’s. But this is not the only focus
of the dietary guidelines as education is also a key area of focus overall (1).
Food Choice,
Caloric Density, and Culturally Focused
Big Moves for Moms and their Littles
Another key focus of the update is that of
pregnant and lactating women, even including recommendations on how long to
breast feed and approaches on when to introduce solid foods (1). This is huge
as this helps mothers meet the nutrient needs for both themselves and their
baby, an area that in the past fell short for many women due to a lack of
support at home, age, physical location, access to healthcare, or other reasons
that in the past have created a gap in information for young, new,
underprivileged, international, or non-native speakers, and low-income mothers.
There are additionally recommendations across the lifespan from birth, infants,
toddlers, adults and aging adults, a reflection of findings to show that not
only are all age groups effected but addressing health concerns begins at and
prior to birth. This creates a shift to teaching healthy habits from a
multigenerational approach with specificity targeting the needs of each
different group, as well as puts future generations in a position of learning
healthy habits throughout various life phases before chronic conditions are
able to start.
A Shift Felt the WHO-le World Over
One of the big differences though is in alignment with what
was arguably almost a recommendation in our guidelines as well, with an even
further reduction in added sugars as most of European countries and WHO (the
World Health Organization) have already moved in this direction.
While these updates are a step in the right direction there are still some calling for these changes to call for even more of a shift, calling for a reduction of added sugar to be 6% of total calories, which would fall in alignment with those falling in line with recommendations already made by the WHO which recommends less than 25G/person/day (3), as opposed to 10%.
Additionally, some have voiced a need for more emphasis on
reducing alcoholic beverage consumption to 1 per day as overconsumption of
alcohol has been found to be a contributing factor to disease states such as
diabetes, obesity, and cancer, as well as having an influence on eating
behavior such as lessening inhibition, lead to a higher chance of over consumption
or making unhealthy food choices, as well as effecting the way in which food is
metabolized in general as alcohol is a toxin and required by the body to be
broken down prior to other macronutrients creating a higher likelihood of
storing these calories instead.
Furthermore, while an increase in fresh fruits and
vegetables are ideal, the dietary demands of following the MyPlate diet
proposed in the guidelines may just be unrealistic for some, especially those
utilizing SNAPs benefits which may not cover the cost of sticking to the
guidelines called for stating that the monthly cost alone when analyzed for a
family of 4 ranged in cost from $1,109 to $1,249 per month, with a family with
adolescent boys costing higher (4). These recommendations though were not made,
with the key reason being that this may further hinder or over restrict causing
many to give up in other areas or in making healthy choices entirely.
References:
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