A New Edition Of The Dietary Guidelines

Every 5 years since 1980, a new edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans has been published. The primary goal is to make recommendations about the components of a healthy and nutritionally adequate diet to help promote good health and prevent chronic disease for current and future generations. About half of all American adults have one or more preventable chronic diseases, and about two thirds of US adults are overweight or obese. These conditions have been highly prevalent for more than two decades. Poor dietary patterns, over consumption of calories, and physical inactivity directly contribute to these disorders. Also, individual nutrition and physical activity behaviors are strongly influenced by personal and social systems. Many

The Dietary Guidelines help Americans make smart choices about food and physical activity, so they can have healthier lives. So these guidelines give people a basis on what they should eat, instead of people eating the wrong foods or just eating things without knowing what is healthy for them and what isn’t. Another thing the Dietary Guidelines allows is for the government to speak with one voice to the public when presenting advice about proper dietary habits for healthy Americans ages two years of age and older. These guidelines also tell individuals how to make food, and tell you what physical activity you should choose to promote health and prevent chronic disease. With the government speaking as a whole about these guidelines this will get individuals more involved in their health. They don’t have to worry about being told different rules to follow. Everything is based on one solid foundation that the government has set for them, which will make it much easier for many people. All federal dietary guidance for the public is required to be consistent with the Dietary Guidelines. Consistency is what makes the public more willing to try things out. The Dietary Guidelines provide the foundation for food and nutrition policy, and the government 's position for debating standards and international reports. The Dietary Guidelines also, influence the direction of government nutrition programs, including research,

Before doing research for this report I had never ever heard about Dietary Guidelines. I believe Louisiana residents would be more compliant to the guidelines if they were better informed about them. The Dietary Guidelines are made for professionals and policy makers so the average American citizen does not have the proper knowledge of these guidelines. The knowledge of health and fitness are important matters that should be available and thought to everyone. I believe that knowledge is power so if people are more knowledgeable about the guidelines they can control the health much better. Teaching this information should not be something that is waited on until the person is overweight or an adult. It should begin in elementary school when children have an understanding what the weight is. That way it is easier for them to manage their weight any control it before it becomes out of hand. Even if they are already overweight at a young age, it is easier for them to lose weight as a child than it would be for them to try and lose weight as an adult. Health and fitness should become a part of every curriculum in school in the US so that we can start taking control over the serious weight problems that we have in the