The History of the Food Pyramid
8:33 AMWritten by The Healthline Editorial Team
Any fifth grader could tell you
what the food pyramid is, but would his version be the same as yours? From the
"Basic Seven" to the "Basic Four," the USDA has revised its
recommendations several times since its inception in 1917. Find out if your
version is up to snuff.
You may
be familiar with the food groups or the food pyramid you learned about in
school. In 2011, however, the food pyramid as everyone knew it changed. It's no
longer the classic triangle with foods to minimize at the top and foods to
maximize on the bottom or the pyramid with the stick man walking up the side
steps. The new food pyramid is round and is called "My Plate," a
colorful representation of what your plate should look like at every meal.
You may
be wondering, why the change? After all, the food pyramid has been around for
decades. Doesn't suddenly changing the guidelines and its shape confuse
everyone? Actually, the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
nutritional guide has changed several times since its debut nearly 100 years
ago. Each change reflected not only current nutritional research, but also the
nation's social and economic trends.
A
History of Nutritional Guides
The USDA's original nutrition guide, established in 1916, was based on five
food groups. During the Depression,
however, the number of food groups increased to 12. This doesn't mean more
foods were created. Instead, fruits and vegetables were broken down into
multiple categories, each with its own daily recommendation, to serve as a
buying guide for a poorer nation. In the '40's, the food groups were
consolidated, first to seven, then to four. Baby Boomers may remember the
"Basic Four"--milk, proteins, grains, and fruits/vegetables--which
was the guideline from the mid-'50's until the late '70's. Generation X and Y
will be most familiar with the "Food Pyramid," which separated fruits
from vegetables and also included fats and oils. The "Food Pyramid"
had been the standard recommendation for nearly 30 years before "My
Plate" recently came onto the scene.
At
first glance, these nutritional guides seem drastically different from one
another. Despite appearances, however, each has included the same general foods
and all of the USDA's guides to date have emphasized choosing a variety of
foods to maximize nutrients in your diet. Each update reflects current health
research as it relates to diet. For example, two recent trends include
increasing fruit and vegetable intake and changing from refined to whole
grains. Both of these recommendations are based on research that shows that
diet may influence risk factors for many chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes.
Introducing My Plate
When you look at the USDA's "My Plate," you get a visual of your
daily recommended intake in a familiar setup: a plate. Half of the plate
contains fruits and vegetables, a quarter comes from grains, and another
quarter from proteins. A small circle to the side of the plate, where a glass
of milk might be, represents dairy products. Getting the right amount of
nutrition is simple: make your own plate look like "My Plate."
In addition, the
USDA's new model offers some general guidelines aimed at improving dietary
health, including:
- · Eating less overall
- · Getting half of your grains from whole grain sources
- · Changing your dairy selections to skim/one percent or non-fat
- · Cutting out excess sodium, fats, and sugars
Will this be the last
food guideline issued by the FDA? Probably not. It does, however, give the
current population an easy guideline to follow for preparing a healthy meal.
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