Later this year the federal government will release its 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The recommendations are intended to provide the foundation for national nutrition programs, standards and education.
A Purdue professor served on a committee of 14 scientists that reviewed the latest in nutrition and medical research to lay the groundwork for the guidelines.
Wayne Campbell says the group’s report is a science-based wake-up call for people to improve what they eat and how they obtain healthy food.
It’s lunchtime at Purdue’s Wiley Dining Hall.
It’s a food court style facility, with a wide variety of choices.
Burgers and chicken are sizzling on the grill, diners are personalizing their meals at the salad bar and the make-your-own pizza and pasta stations, while others are dressing up pre-made meals with a wide range of toppings
Nutrition Science Professor Wayne Campbell says it’s great to have so many choices, but that makes it all the more important to know how to choose wisely.
“We’re at a condiments bar for tacos and the like. This is a great example of where you just have to know what you’re doing," says Campbell. "The black beans, the onions, the chopped tomatoes and the lettuce are all great. The guacamole is a very healthy source of essential fatty acids. But then you have the sour cream and the cheese shreds, and depending on how much you put on you might really compromise the nutritional quality.”
But Campbell says the dining hall gives people the information to make healthy choices. A small card on display with each food item lists the calories and serving size and whether it contains any ingredients that put people at risk of an allergic reaction.
“For example, we’re looking at some sort of a chicken wrap here. It looks really healthy. It’s got vegetables in it, it’s got chicken, it’s got cheese, in a soft tortilla shell. Yet one wrap is 773 calories," says Campbell. "Now for a college student that may not be excess calories. But if that’s only one of multiple items that they’re putting on their plate for lunch or dinner they could easily be up into close to 15-hundred or more calories just for that single meal.”
Campbell says the goal of the Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans is to educate people about how to improve what they eat and to shine a light on factors that make it difficult for some to lead a healthy lifestyle.
“The new parts of the guidelines report focus really on three things. One is that we live in such a diverse society, and there are so many different factor and cultures and economics that contribute to what we actually choose to eat, that the healthy dietary patterns that are supported by the science in this report are not a one-size-fits-all," says Campbell. "The goal of these patterns is to not try to be restrictive in what people can consume, because that may lead to frustration, but to let people know that there are a whole host of foods that can fit within these healthy diet patterns. But you really have to be aware and mindful of what you’re eating and be knowledgeable enough to recognize when a food is not part of that healthy pattern.”
“You hear all the time about people that are either on food stamps or they live in urban locations and don’t have access to healthy foods. Do the guidelines address that?”
“The research supports that people that are dealing with food insecurity often make less-than-healthy food choices, and that actually contributes to their excess weight gain and poorer health because of obesity. So the encouragement of the report is for people that are involved with food programs are mindful of this and that through programming and through policies at the local, state and national level that people have access to sustainable, healthy foods as much as possible. One of the new parts is that the report takes into consideration community acculturation. The literature shows that the longer that people are in our country, the worse their diet gets."
“Are you saying we’re making people fat?”
“I’m saying that especially second and third generation people from other countries have acculturated well, but that acculturating well has come at the expense of them eating as well as they did before they came here, and that has a compromise on their weight status and their health profiles.”
“The second part is related to environmental sustainability. For the first time the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee incorporated looking at not only the nutrition profile of the foods that people have available to purchase and eat, but also whether or not the choices they make influence our environment. What we have found is that adopting the healthier eating patterns of encouraging increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, nuts, whole grains, low-fat dairy and low-fat sources of meats and poultry and fish are actually also more environmentally friendly. And so whether or not your goal is personal health, or if it’s more of environmental health, these guidelines will actually have the potential to give you a framework for improving both at the same time.”
The 2015 set of Dietary Guidelines for Americans is due out this Fall.
