Food pyramid

Nutrition
Dr. Saadia Tariq
FOOD pyramid
What is a food pyramid?
A food pyramid or diet pyramid is a pyramid-shaped diagram representing
the optimal number of servings to be eaten each day from each of the
basic food groups.

The first food pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974.

The food pyramid introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture

(USDA) in the year 1992 was called the "Food Guide Pyramid".

It was updated to MyPyramid in 2005 and then replaced by My Plate in

2011

What does it show

The base or the bottom of the pyramid is the grain, cereal and bread group. We
need 6 to 11 servings of this group. The most of any of them. If you were to make a
pyramid out of Tater Tots you would put the most on the bottom to support all the
rest.
The next layer up is the fruits and vegetables group.You need 2 to 4 servings of the
fruits and 3 to 5 servings of the vegetables.
The next layer is the dairy and the protein groups. We need 2 to 3 servings a day of
the dairy group and 2 to 3 servings of the protein group.
The tip-top of the pyramid is the sugar,fats, and salt group. If we eat foods from the
other groups we get all the fats, sugars and salt our bodies need. So these are to be
used sparingly

Benefits of food guide pyramid

1. Showed Variety
The Food Guide Pyramid emphasized the importance of eating a balanced, varied
diet by depicting five main food groups: grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy products
and other proteins, including meat, fish, beans, nuts and eggs. Included with each
food group were recommended servings per day, which communicated the idea that
its healthy to eat a variety of foods daily rather than getting most of your calories
from just one or two of the groups.
2. Set Limits
The tip of the Food Guide Pyramid depicted fats, oils and sweets and recommended
limiting them to 100 to 300 of your total daily calories. Although some fats, such as
olive oil, have proven benefits for cardiovascular health, many Americans do eat
unhealthier fats and sweets in excess, both of which can negatively affect heart
health. In that regard, the recommendation to limit fats and sweets was valid.
3. Easy to Understand
Harvard School of Public Healths nutrition researchers are quick to point out flaws
in the Food Guide Pyramid, but they admit that the pyramid shape had a
tremendous benefit in being clear and easy to understand. By using a pyramid, the
USDA was able to immediately imply that foods near the bottom of the pyramid
were good and should be major fixtures of most peoples diets, and foods nearer
the tip of the pyramid were bad and should be limited or avoided.
4. Showed Examples

The Food Guide Pyramid appealed to peoples visual interest by showing examples
of foods that might be healthy choices from each main group. Although not all
depictions were of equally healthy foods, many items shown were significant
sources of essential vitamins and minerals. Some of the healthiest foods shown
were whole-grain bread, milk, eggs, fish, nuts, beans, fresh fruits like apples and
oranges, and fresh vegetables like broccoli and leafy greens. Seeing examples of
what you should be eating helped you think about healthy meal planning and
what to pick when you had more than one option.
Drawbacks
1. Coveys wrong dietary advise
2. With an overstuffed breadbasket as its base, the Food Guide Pyramid failed to
show that whole wheat, brown rice, and other whole grains are healthier than
refined grains.
3. With fat relegated to the use sparingly tip, it ignored the health benefits of
plant oilsand instead pointed to the type of low-fat diet that can worsen blood
cholesterol profiles and make it harder to keep weight in check.
4. It grouped healthy proteins (fish, poultry, beans, and nuts) into the same
category as unhealthy proteins (red meat and processed meat), and
overemphasized the importance of dairy products

MyPyramid, released by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on

April 19, 2005, was an update on the earlier American food guide pyramid. USDA

food pyramid 2005 or MyPyramid

MyPyramid contained eight divisions.

From left to right on the pyramid is a person climbing steps on the pyramid,
to illustrate moderate physical activity every day, in addition to usual
activity .
The key recommendations for 2005 are:
1. Reduce sedentary activities to promote health, psychological well-being, and
a healthy body weight.
2. Achieve physical fitness by including cardiovascular conditioning, Engage in
regular physical activity
3. stretching exercises for flexibility, and resistance exercises for muscle
strength and endurance. At least 30 minutes on most, and if possible, every
day for adults and at least 60 minutes each day for children and teenagers,
and for most people increasing to more vigorous-intensity or a longer
duration will bring greater benefits

Six food groups

1. Grains: recommending that at least half of grains consumed be as whole

grains (27%)
2. Vegetables: emphasizing dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, and dry
beans and peas (23%)
3. Fruits: emphasizing variety and deemphasizing fruit juices (15%)
4. Oils: recommending fish, nut, and vegetables sources (2%)
5. Milk: a category that includes fluid milk and many other milk-based products
(23%)
6. Meat and beans: emphasizing low-fat and lean meats such as fish as well as
more beans, peas, nuts, and seeds (10%)

And another group of discretionary calories

Discretionary calories, represented by the narrow tip of each colored band, including
items such as candy, alcohol, or additional food from any other group.
Themes
The USDA encoded six themes into the design of the MyPyramid icon.
According to the USDA, MyPyramid incorporated:
Personalization, demonstrated by the MyPyramid website. To find a
personalized recommendation of the kinds and amounts of food to eat each
day, individuals were instructed to visit MyPyramid.gov (now defunct).
Gradual improvement, represented by the slogan Steps to a Healthier You. It
suggests that individuals can benefit from taking small steps to improve their
diet and lifestyle each day.
Physical activity, represented by the steps and the person climbing them, as
a reminder of the importance of daily physical activity.
Variety, symbolized by the six color bands representing the five food groups
of MyPyramid and oils. Suggests that foods from all groups are needed each
day for good health.
Moderation, represented by the narrowing of each food group from bottom to
top. The wider base stands for foods with little or no solid fats, added sugars,
or caloric sweeteners. Suggests these should be selected more often to get
the most nutrition from calories consumed.

 Proportionality, shown by the different widths of the food group bands. The
widths suggest how much food a person should choose from each group. The
widths are just a general guide.
Drawbacks
According to the USDA, MyPyramid was designed to be simple, and to drive
people to the USDAs MyPyramid website where they could get more details.
Unless you took the time to become familiar with MyPyramid, though, you
would have no idea what it meant. Relying on the website to provide key
informationlike what the color stripes stand for and what the best choices
are in each food groupguaranteed that the millions of people without
access to a computer or the Internet would have trouble getting these
essential facts.

MyPlate is the current nutrition guide published by USDA, a food circle (i.e. a pie
chart) depicting a place setting with a plate and glass divided into five food
groups. It replaced the USDA's MyPyramid guide on June 2, 2011, ending 19 years of
USDA food pyramid diagrams.
MyPlate is divided into sections of approximately

30 percent grains,

40 percent vegetables,

10 percent fruits and

20 percent protein,

accompanied by a smaller circle representing dairy, such as a glass

of milk or a yogurt cup.

Benefits
The result is a simple visual graphic of a balanced meal that families can use as a
tool to make sure the portions of the major food groups are covered in meals. The
simplicity of the graphic helps ALL family members, especially children, become
more engaged in what and how much they should be eating. An interactive plate on
the MyPlate website allows users to click on each section of the plate, which then
displays a page for the selected food group with description, key message, and a list
with pictures of single-serving sizes of some common foods in that group. These
changes allow families to easily identify what a healthy, balanced meal looks like.
Also featured is an Interactive Tools section that enables users to develop
personalized plans and learn about specific healthy food choices. When all family
members know the basics of healthy eating, mealtime can truly be a shared event.
MyPlate can also encourage family discussions about healthy foods, which can help
develop good eating habits by all members of a family. For example, you can find
out if there are any particular foods that family members like or dislike, and then
find and offer alternatives in the specific food group of a disliked item. This will help
eliminate the likelihood that someone will skip the essential healthy components of
a meal. Get everyone excited and involved during mealtime! Fun meals shared as a
family can promote healthy eating habits for children that they can carry into
adulthood and can reinforce family bonding.
Keep in mind that MyPlate isnt designed as strict rule to be followedits perfectly
fine to have dairy products directly on the plate instead of in a cup. Desserts, which
are currently placed in the Empty Calories section, are okay when consumed in
moderation in appropriate portions. You may still have to seek out other sources for
how to prepare foods in healthy ways and to determine for the nutrition content of
many food items. The information on MyPlate should be used as a tool to build a
foundation of knowledge about food choices and help set healthy eating goals for
your family. Families should take this change as an opportunity to get the entire
family involved in healthy eating.

Drawbacks

MyPlate has several limitations when it comes to educating people about

a healthy diet. To start with, it shows various food groups that you need in
your diet, but you don't necessarily need them in one meal. The meal on
this plate is definitely not one that most people have for breakfast. What
option do you learn from this if you don't follow what it shows? You also
don't usually have fruit on your plate for lunch or dinner so what are you
supposed to replace that with? Ideally, lunch and dinner would have half
of all of the food from vegetables. That means that you may have a bowl
on the side of the plate and some on the plate, not just half the plate full
of veggies.
One major complaint regarding MyPlate is the section labeled "protein." In
terms of nutrition, it is not accurate to call a food protein. There are six
groups that foods are divided into based on the nutrients that they
contain. These groups are vegetables, fruit, grains, dairy (milk and
yogurt), beans/meats (including fish, eggs, poultry and soy), and fat.
There is no food group called protein because protein is a nutrient, not a
food. Many people think of meats when you say protein, but that is not the
only source of protein. Protein is found in vegetables, grains, dairy, beans,
and meats. You eat food to get nutrients; you don't just eat nutrients. The
six essential nutrients are protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamin, minerals,
and water. The plate would have been more accurate to say "meat or
meat alternative."
MyPlate is being promoted as the guide for everyone, but it isn't. There
has been an increase in the number of people following vegetarian and
vegan diets, but this doesn't address their needs. It would have been
beneficial to have separate MyPlate icons for them. MyPlate also does
nothing to teach people how to lose or control their weight. With a big
enough plate and glass, you can follow the icon and still eat too many
calories. You can also consume a lot of calories by the choices that you
make within each of the groups. For example, you will get many more
calories if you have cheese as your dairy instead of skim milk, or high-fat
meats instead of lean ones, or canned fruit in syrup versus fresh fruit, and
if you add fat to any of the items, your calories can even double!
Finally, by not mentioning sweets, fats, and alcohol, that does not mean
that people will not consume them. The "dieting" mentality is often that a
food is either good or bad. That would mean that everything on MyPlate is
good and anything else is bad. The truth is that most things are allowed in
moderation when we are talking about a healthy adult. If someone enjoys
their sweets, then the goal would be to help them figure out how to have
some without theweight gain or guilt.