2010 Dietary Guidelines Released
On Monday Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Both secretaries had signed off on the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee last December. DGCA’s report stated that the committee considers obesity to be the greatest threat to public health. “The new Dietary Guidelines are based on the best evidence, the best science, great participation from the wonderful advisory committee and lots of input from the public,” Sebelius said. “This is one in a series of tools to give Americans better information about how to stay healthy, how to become healthier, how to make the healthier choices that our kids are going to need to be better students and be prosperous in the future.” Calories in and calories out as well as healthy eating by children were points that were emphasized by the secretaries. “The guidelines basically provide a roadmap for busy moms and dads and families across the country to make sure they maintain a healthy lifestyle,” Vilsack said. “Critical to that obviously are healthy eating habits. The guidelines provide a science-based roadmap focusing on calories in and calories out. Not only do we want to make sure folks eat the right kinds of foods in the proper amounts, but we’re also very interested in making sure they get enough physical activity to offset the calories in.” The new guidelines also push the importance of making the best use of calories by having nutrient dense calories as opposed to empty calories. “The guidelines provide direction in terms of foods to avoid in great amounts and foods to eat more of,” Vilsack said. “More fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, lean proteins including more fish and seafood; less sodium, less sugar and less saturated fat for sure.” More consumer-friendly advice and tools, including a next generation Food Pyramid, will be released by USDA and HHS in the coming months. Details of the new Dietary Guidelines as well as some online tools to help implement them are available at www.usda.gov and www.dietaryguidelines.gov.
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