On Monday we said goodbye to the USDA Food Pyramid in wrapped anticipation of a new educational icon to guide our nutritional way.
Thursday MyPyramid.gov has become ChooseMyPlate.gov
The unveiling is exciting! Supporting one of our PATH mantras, “Good health has got to be the PATH of least resistance,” US Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin, said, “We’re working to make healthy choices easy choices.”
How does the new plate image do that?
It is simple – so someone with new thinking on healthy eating can go there and feel reassured that change is accessible. New thinking is fragile (another PATH and Intrinsic Coaching mantra). The last thing we want in public health is to scare someone off when they’re finally ready to grow and learn. The idea is to expand people’s thinking, not narrow, much less crush it.
It’s a great visual on proportions — a hamburger from a fast food joint 20 years ago had 1/2 the calories of today. Portion control is one of our great American conundrums. Further, I have rarely met a person who effortlessly remembers to eat 5 cups of fruits and veggies every day.
It is a bit less prone to politics — because of the portion visuals, meat has finally, definitively, been given a low profile. The message is clear, at least half your meal should be fruits and veggies, another 1/3 or so should be whole grains. That leaves a small area for “lean proteins” and “low-fat” dairy.
We health educators have been trying desperately to send this “less meat” message since the 1970’s when the Framingham Heart Study told us (for the second time) that too much processed animal fat dramatically increases your risk of heart disease and colon cancer. American’s just couldn’t hear the message. Post Depression and World War II era families drummed the scarcity mentality into the Baby Boomers and their children and thus cutting back on meats has been utterly counter intuitive. Strong food industry marketers selling 20 ounce Porterhouse steaks didn’t help.
Is there anything wrong with the new My Plate icon?
Well, it still leaves a lot to the imagination on what and how much we “should” eat. People will need additional hand-holding or they’ll have to be motivated to delve deep into the new Dietary Guidelines on their own.
One other flaw is pointed out by renowned nutrition and food policy expert, Marion Nestle: a food group called “Protein” focuses on a “nutrient” rather than a type of “food” unlike the rest of the plate. She tells Scientific American that Grains and Dairy also provide valuable forms of protein, so it’s misleading. She admits it would be hard to section out the plate by all kinds of foods and the Protein group is a reasonable compromise both for visual simplicity and for taming the vociferous meat industry.
Ultimately, we are all optimistic about the direction of ChooseMyPlate.com.
Forbes captured the potential impact of this simple but confident visual when they quoted First Lady, Michelle Obama at Thursday’s unveiling:
“Since seeing the plate icon, I can’t help but look at my own plate differently,” Obama said. “I find myself doing a quick checklist to know that I have a balanced meal.”
That’s a huge step forward. All progress is worthwhile.
Share what you think of the plate with us on the PATH Ahead!