Newswise — The Food and Nutrition Science Alliance, consisting of seven of the nation's leading food and nutrition science organizations, commends the collaborative effort of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services to provide solid guidance to Americans on how they can balance food intake and physical activity.
These federal agencies recently released "MyPyramid," a new set of tools for consumers to help them implement the key concepts in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
FANSA is a partnership of the American College of Nutrition, American Dietetic Association, American Society for Clinical Nutrition, American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, American Society for Nutritional Sciences, Institute of Food Technologists and Society for Nutrition Education. The combined membership of FANSA organizations includes more than 120,000 food, nutrition and medical practitioners and scientists.
The group urges collaboration among stakeholders from diverse segments of society to implement this new guidance. Government, academia, the food industry, the health-care community and the educational system all have roles to play.
The addition of a physical activity icon to the food guidance system symbol emphasizes the importance of energy balance, or the balance between calories in and calories out. The new guidance system provides tools that Americans can use to help choose within food groups as well as among the groups. The "MyPyramid" Web site at www.mypyramid.gov provides additional information about how to create a pyramid and a food plan that is personalized to the individual.
Coordination of activities and partnerships is vital if rapid progress is to be made and sustained in communicating the new guidance system to the public and supporting healthy diet and exercise patterns. FANSA looks forward to playing a key role in this process. Developing and maintaining healthy lifestyles for both individuals and the population as a whole are a major focus for all seven of the organizations.
FANSA encourages the development of additional tools that are accessible to all Americans and focus on the necessary research to identify how to disseminate and make this tool useable to Americans. Research is needed to ensure that "MyPyramid" goes beyond the awareness stage where consumers readily identify the shape and intent (pyramid and healthy eating) and truly apply and use the information when making informed choices on a daily basis.
RSS