U.S. new dietary guidelines

U.S. serves up new dietary guidelines
Faced with an obesity epidemic, Uncle Sam is urging Americans to eat smarter and get much more active By ANDRÉ PICARD PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTER; With files from Associated Press Friday, January 14, 2005 - Globe and Mail Page A13

The U.S. government has revamped its food guidelines, providing a lot more practical information for consumers and shifting its focus to emphasize that healthy eating and physical activity are intrinsically linked. The new guidelines emphasize eating more fruits and vegetables (leafy-green and orange ones especially), more whole grains, low-fat dairy products, and limiting fats and trans fats in particular. They also recommend that Americans get between 60 and 90 minutes of physical activity daily to ensure they burn enough calories to have a healthy intake of food. Many of those recommendations are already included in Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating, but it is currently being revamped and changes will not be unveiled until the spring of 2006. "The U.S. has done a lovely job and I'm happy to say it's very much aligned with what we're doing," Mary Bush, director-general of the office of nutrition policy and promotion at Health Canada, said in an interview. The recommendations will be reflected in a new U.S. food pyramid, to be published in the coming months. Canada has a rainbow rather than a pyramid, but both approaches say essentially the same thing. While the information is sound, the challenge has been presenting it to consumers in a user-friendly way, Ms. Bush said. "When we release the revised food guide, it will come with a suite of information to provide practical guidance to Canadians," she said. This will include stressing the link between diet and exercise, as the United States has done, and as Canada is doing in its Healthy Living strategy. "You really can't talk about nutrition any more without talking about exercise," Ms. Bush said. U.S. officials conceded that their new guidelines are really a compendium of basic recommendations, few of which will be new to consumers. "It's really common sense. Do you want to look better? Do you want to feel better?" said Tommy Thompson, the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary. "You lower your calorie intake, you lower your carbs, your fats. You eat more fruits and vegetables, and you exercise. That's as simple as it can be. That is not too hard." Nearly two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, Mr. Thompson said. The guidelines recommend that moderately active adults aged 30 to 50 consume 2,000 calories daily for women, and about 2,500 calories for men, and that caloric intake be balanced with energy expenditure to ensure a healthy body weight. This replaces the idea of having a healthy body-mass index -- an approximation of fat based on height and weight. The new recommendations call for a huge increase in physical activity, from 30 minutes daily in the old guidelines to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous-intensity activity most days to prevent weight gain. For those who've lost weight and want to stay healthy, the guidelines urge participating in at least 60 to 90 minutes of daily, moderate-intensity activity. (It reminds people to check with their doctor before participating in this level of exercise.) In the food area, the United States has eliminated the idea of "servings" of fruits and vegetables and put its intake recommendations in cups. Instead of three to four servings of veggies and two to four servings of fruit, it now suggests consuming 4.5 cups of fruits and vegetables. The new guidelines are also more blunt on carbohydrates, suggesting whole grains and fibre-rich fruits and veggies, and limiting sugared drinks. It also recommends that no more than 10 per cent of daily calories come from fat, and that trans-fat consumption be as low as possible. The guidelines address, for the first time, the popular practice of eating treats. They suggest that people can consume "discretionary calories" from ice cream and sweets as long as they eat nutritious meals and don't exceed their daily caloric goals. The last substantial revision to Canada's food guide was in 1990. Recommendations on both sides of the border A partial comparison of American and Canadian food recommendations: Fruits and vegetables U.S. says: For a 2,000-calorie diet, two cups fruit daily (e.g. one small banana plus one large orange plus 1/4 cup dried apricots or peaches constitutes two cups). Eat a variety of fruit - fresh, frozen, canned, dried - rather than juice for most choices. Eat 21/2 cups veggies. Choose more dark green veggies, e.g. broccoli, kale, dark leafy greens. Select orange veggies - e.g. carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, winter squash - and beans (pinto, kidney, black, garbanzo), split peas, lentils. Canada says: Eat five to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. A serving is one medium-size vegetable or fruit, or 1/2 cup fresh, frozen or canned, or 1 cup of salad or 1/2 cup juice. Calcium-rich foods U.S. says: Daily, get three cups low-fat or fat-free milk, or equivalent amount of low-fat yoghurt and/or low-fat cheese (11/2 ounces [42 grams] of cheese equals one cup of milk). For children 2 to 8, it's two cups of milk. Canada says: Two to four servings of milk products for adults, two to three servings for children 4 to 9. Serving constitutes one cup milk or 50 grams cheese or 3/4 cup of yoghurt. Grains U.S. says: Eat at least three ounces of whole-grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice or pasta daily. Make half your grains whole. One ounce is about one slice of bread, one cup of breakfast cereal or 1/2 cup cooked rice or pasta. Canada says: Eat five to 12 servings of grain products daily. A serving is one slice of bread or 3/4 cup of hot cereal or 30 grams of cold cereal. A small bagel, pita or bun counts as two servings; one cup of cooked rice or pasta counts as two servings. Protein U.S. says: Choose lean meats and poultry. Bake, broil, grill. Vary choices with more fish, beans, nuts and seeds. Canada says: Eat two to three servings of meat or meat alternatives daily. For example, a serving is 50 to 100 grams of meat or fish or poultry. One to two eggs counts as a serving. Two tablespoons (30 ml) of peanut butter is a serving. SOURCES: DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR AMERICANS, 2005; CANADA'S FOOD GUIDE TO HEALTHY EATING