Food pyramid replaced by a plate

by Aimee Keenan-Greene

Confused about what the food pyramid represents when it comes to the food groups and your diet?

The USDA just dished out a new easier to understand nutrition graphic that will replace the long-standing food pyramid icon as part of the "Choose My Plate" campaign.

The new icon resembles a dinner plate with vegetables and grains in larger proportion to fruits and meats. This better represents the new 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the federal government's evidence-based nutritional 'rulebook' released earlier this year.

The new 7th edition focuses on balancing calories with physical activity, and encourage Americans to consume more healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, and seafood, and to consume less sodium, saturated and trans fats, added sugars, and refined grains.

"The 2010 Dietary Guidelines are being released at a time when the majority of adults and one in three children is overweight or obese and this is a crisis that we can no longer ignore," said Agriculture Secretary Vilsack. "These new and improved dietary recommendations give individuals the information to make thoughtful choices of healthier foods in the right portions and to complement those choices with physical activity. The bottom line is that most Americans need to trim our waistlines to reduce the risk of developing diet-related chronic disease. Improving our eating habits is not only good for every individual and family, but also for our country."

The USDA suggests:

• Enjoy your food, but eat less
• Avoid oversized portions
• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk
• Choose the foods with lower sodium
• Drink water not sugary drinks

The U.S. Department of Agriculture   also has new nutrition standards planned  for National School Lunch and School Breakfast meal programs for the first time in fifteen years, making critical changes to school meals this fall to help improve the health and nutrition of nearly 32 million kids that participate in school meal programs everyday.

For more information, visit choosemyplate.gov