Here’s a quick quiz: What replaced the Food Pyramid, the government’s guide to healthy eating, for nearly 20 years?
If you’re stumped, you’re not alone.
More than a decade after USDA officials ditched the pyramid, few Americans have heard of MyPlate, a logo in the shape of a dinner plate that highlights fruits and vegetables.
Only about 25% of adults were aware of MyPlate and less than 10% attempted to use the guidance, according to a survey released Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics. These figures from 2017 to 2020 represent only a modest improvement from a similar survey conducted a few years ago.
This means that despite diet-related diseases like obesity, diabetes and heart disease continuing to rise, the Obama administration’s programs cost about $3 million a year and are not reaching most Americans. is.
“This is now an elementary education tool that conveys guidelines for Americans,” said lead author of the study, Edwina Wambogo, a nutrition epidemiologist at the agency. “MyPlate should do a little better.”
Food policy expert Marion Nestlé said the results were not surprising.
“Why do you expect otherwise?” she said in an email. “MyPlate never ran an educational campaign. Now it’s the old hat, it only deals with healthy foods, it makes no mention of unhealthy foods, and it’s what Americans actually eat. It seems unattainable because it is so far from the thing.”
USDA officials say fiscal 2023 budget increases from $3 million to $10 million per year to broaden campaign reach and enhance MyPlate campaigns by making recipes and other materials more culturally relevant I said I was trying.
“We are passionate about putting MyPlate and other important tools in the hands of more people,” said Stacey Dean, Deputy Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services. increase.
A new study found that people who rated their diet as very good, very good, or good were far more likely to have heard of MyPlate than those who rated their diet as average or poor. A survey found that about a third of those who heard the plan were willing to follow it.
MyPlate was introduced in 2011 and got the attention of former First Lady Michelle Obama, who focused on healthy eating and exercise.
Use a dinner plate with four colored sections for fruits, vegetables, grains, and proteins, and smaller circles for dairy products such as low-fat milk and yogurt. It encouraged Americans to make half their meals full of fruits and vegetables and was advertised as a quick and easily accessible format.
But the guide omits important details, says Dr. Vijaya Slumpdi, a nutrition expert at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“I don’t distinguish between starchy and non-starchy vegetables,” she said. “There is no fat there.”
Also, MyPlate does not recognize that vegetables, grains and dairy products contain protein, Nestle added.
MyPlate replaced the USDA food pyramid that was used from 1992 to 2011. Though recognized by school kids for generations, nutritionists were critical of the pyramids for over-consuming carbohydrates and cutting fat through grains.
“It was not the best recommendation on so many levels,” said Surampudi. “Our diabetes rate didn’t go down. Our obesity rate didn’t go down. It went up.”
New research should explore why some groups are less likely to recognize and follow government guidance and how best to reach underfed people.
But it’s difficult, Mr. Slumpdi said. Generally, people know they need to eat more fruits and vegetables.
“People shut down in moments of a little confusion,” she said.
