New Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Eat Less Junk

When I told someone recently that the new 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) were finally published this week (!) she responded with something like, "So? People are just gonna go on eating what they're gonna eat."  Oh ye of little faith...  Regardless of the fact that people are ultimately responsible for what they put in their mouth, and knowing full well that the DGAs are created by the same body (USDA) that regulates the food industry, these guidelines are important because they help form the basis for nutrition policy in Federal food, nutrition, education, and information programs--think school lunch & SNAP--and can create tidal waves in the food industry.

At first glance, the 2010 DGAs have not changed much from the 2005 edition, but the changes made are significant.  Firstly, these guidelines were not published, as per usual, as guidance for “healthy” Americans, because they then would not be applicable to the majority of the population due to the epidemic of lifestyle related chronic disease.  These guidelines were published for an unhealthy population.  The document starts off by describing the state of the nation’s health, and though these statistics are well known, they are startling:  almost 50% of adults over the age of 20 have type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, heart disease is rampant with 37% of the population having cardiovascular disease, overweight and obesity affects the majority of adults and a large minority of children, and health disparities abound.  In light of these troubling facts, the new DGAs encourage people to consume fewer calories in general, less of them from junk food:

Focus on consuming nutrient-dense foods and beverages. Americans currently consume too much sodium and too many calories from solid fats, added sugars, and refined grains.² These replace nutrient-dense foods and beverages and make it difficult for people to achieve recommended nutrient intake while controlling calorie and sodium intake. A healthy eating pattern limits intake of sodium, solid fats, added sugars, and refined grains and emphasizes nutrient-dense foods and bever­ages—vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products,³ seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, and nuts and seeds.

That's pretty solid nutrition advice.

These DGAs also address the food environment, exploring the Socio-Ecological Model of Health —there is a whole chapter dedicated to encouraging all sectors of society to work together to improve American’s food intake and activity patterns.  One recommendation I enjoyed; "Develop and expand safe, effective, and sustainable agriculture and aquaculture practices to ensure availability of recommended amounts of healthy foods to all segments of the population."  The elephant in the room here though seems to be the missing recommendation to stop our current subsidy system; which creates the overabundant supply of cheap SoFAS.  But, the fact that the DGAs seriously consider the food environment, means we can probably expect more funds trickling down to community driven, good food programs.

There’s a lot we could go into, and I will explore more of the details, wading through particular food groups in future postings, but for now, suffice it to say that the DGAs do remain very industry friendly.  One doesn’t expect to find issues such as resource depletion, food sovereignty, food justice, ecology, or traditional foodways seriouusly considered in the DGAs...but I somehow found myself hoping for it nonetheless.  (When the USDA is charged with promoting the meat and dairy industries, how can we expect them to come right out and tell people to eat less CAFO beef or acknowledge the water pollution of large dairy operations or even that much of the American population is actually lactose intolerant???)

So while the DGAs do not really address questions of sustainability, if all American’s switched their diet to one patterned off these rec’s, we’d actually reduce our ecological footprint markedly from where it now stands while improving our health drastically.  

Science and Public Health Take a Good Look at the Food System

February has been ripe with discourse about the transforming the food system to one that can feed the world equitably and healthfully while mitigating the effects of climate change and environmental degradation.

On Feb 12, a special edition of the journal Science devoted to the question of feeding a growing population with finite resources was made available online for free.  I’ve just begun getting through pieces like Food Security: The Challenge of Feeding 9 Billion People, What It Takes to Make That Meal, Measuring Food Insecurity, and Sustainability and Global Seafood, but I can wholeheartedly recommend it as an important resource for those interested in taking a serious look at our global public health and environmental crises and considering the solutions. The introductory article Feeding the Future starts off dramatically:

Feeding the 9 billion people expected to inhabit our planet by 2050 will be an unprecedented challenge. This special issue examines the obstacles to achieving global food security and some promising solutions…. We have little time to waste. Godfray et al. (p. 812) note that we have perhaps 40 years to radically transform agriculture, work out how to grow more food without exacerbating environmental problems, and simultaneously cope with climate change. Although estimates of food insecurity vary (Barrett et al., p. 825), the number of undernourished people already exceeds 1 billion; feeding this many people requires more than incremental changes (Federoff et al., p. 833).

Then last week, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement sponsored a web program in their WIHI series, titled  “ Tipping the Scales: Fresh Ideas to Combat Obesity.”   The program focused on our food environment and it’s impact on our food intake.   In it, I was impressed to hear Dr David Kessler former FDA Commissioner and author of The End of Overeating say, “Unless we dramatically change our relationship with food, including the environment..” ...the epidemic of obesity will go unresolved.  Then Charles J. Homer, MD, MPH, said, “overweight is not a matter of personal choice…we live in a toxic environment and we need to change it.”   And Rachelle Mirkin of the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality talked about how a big, systemic change will be needed to make a difference in the epidemic of obesity.   She said, that for “real change” to happen, “we’re going to need to change the environment.” 

And today  an exciting webinar on Bridging Food Systems and Public Health was aired. The hosts promised it would be available online tomorrow.  For now you can access the special issues of the Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition  that the webinar explored: Food Systems and Public Health: Linkages to Achieve Healthier Diets and Healthier Communities.  David Wallinga, MD, MPA, of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Michael Hamm, PhD, of Michigan State University, and Angie Tagtow, MS, RD, LD, HEN/ADA Managing Editor were the featured speakers.  I can’t say enough about this webinar.  Not only did the speakers address opportunities for positive changes in local and federal policy and ways for health professionals to “dig in”, they shared visions of what a healthy and sustainable food system might actually look like.

Sustainable Nutrition Bottom-line:  Our environmental and public health crises intersect in the food system.  And there is a lot of work to be done to tackle these crises.  I loved when Michael Hamm of the JHEN webinar defined our food system challenges as a “wicked problem”--a problem that is "difficult or impossible to fix…. because of complex interdependencies.”  But in acknowledging the scope of the problem we should not give up.   Each and every one of us has opportunities to make positive changes on the individual, local, nationwide and global level.  If we find ways to act quickly and act together to support good policies that can help us to change our collective and individual foodways, we just might be able to create an equitable, healthy, and sustainable food system.

Take action for School Lunch

Labor Day is the National Day of Action to Get REAL Food into Schools. The Time for Lunch campaign, Slow Food USA's first national political campaign, is a truly democratic effort to improve our children's health by improving school lunch. With its greatly limited resources, the National School Lunch Program struggles to provide anything but cheap, processed food to the more than 30 million children its feeds each day. Getting healthy, real food into schools could help to stem the tide of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease already plaguing our youth. The Time for Lunch Campaign urges our legislators to invest in our nation's health by prioritizing real food in schools when the Child Nutrition act is reauthorized later this year.

Feeding kids better food in schools is one of many greatly needed steps towards growing healthy people. We are now in crisis mode-- lifestyle related chronic disease rates are skyrocketing. One in 3 American children born after the year 2000 is expected to develop diabetes. Nearly a third of children are overweight or obese and these rates are expected to climb. The Robert Wood Johnson foundation recently came out with their 6th annual report on obesity: F as in Fat: How Obesity Rates Are Failing in America 2009.

The current economic crisis could exacerbate the obesity epidemic. Food prices are expected to rise, particularly for more nutritious foods, making it more difficult for families to eat healthy foods.

The report includes an extensive list of specific recommendations of how to "Make Obesity Prevention and Control a High Priority of Health Reform" and how to "Launch a National Strategy to Combat Obesity."

Clearly, we can not continue chalking our dramatic rates of diet-related diseases to personal responsibility. Our food environment matters. Our food system is currently perfectly designed to do what it does best-- deliver large amounts of cheap, processed food. And this is making us collectively sick. We must do something entirely different if we are to expect different outcomes. I believe that getting real food into schools takes us one step closer towards building a food system that keep us healthy, happy and whole. So lets get to it.

There are 3 Steps to Time for Lunch:

• Sign the Petition

  "I believe that change can’t wait: It's time to provide America's children with REAL FOOD at school."

• Spread the Word

Tell your friends and legislators about Time for Lunch.

• Attend an Eat-in

TODAY! Over 300 Eat-ins are happening in all 50 states!

From Slow Food USA:

An Eat-In (part potluck, part sit-in) takes place in public and gathers people to support a cause - like getting real food into schools.

On Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2009, people in communities all over the country will sit down to share a meal with their neighbors and kids. This National Day of Action will send a clear message to Congress: It's time to provide America's children with real food at school.

Getting Congress' attention is a big job, and we need your help. On Sept. 7, attend an Eat-In taking place near you.

Sustainable Nutrition Bottom-line: As a dietitian, I believe it is imperative to do more than encourage people to eat more nutritiously-- we must all take part in building a healthier food system that delivers more nutritious food.