Here are the sources we looked at!
For almost 20 years now, Americans have based their eating habits on a food pyramid, which consisted of six different food groups: dairy, sweets/fats, grain, meat, vegetables, and fruits. With each category of the pyramid, there are serving portions listed to show people how much of each food group they should be eating. This is done to enforce a healthy eating lifestyle, yet according to USDA officials the food pyramid seemed too complex and did not portray a clear idea of meals in relation to a good balance. Later, a new food pyramid was created and a person is shown walking up the side of it to relay this message of exercise. Just last year, the USDA introduced the new food pyramid, named "MyPlate".
MyPlate is designed as an actual plate divided into fourths with categories like grain, protein, fruits, and vegetables. There is also a cup on the side which stands for dairy. Essentially, this new model made it easier for people to actually visualize how much of each food group you should be consuming based on the plate. Also, half of the plate is devoted to fruits and vegetables, considering they are the healthiest foods one can eat. The "fats" group was completely eliminated simply because fatty foods should never be encouraged in a diet; they will never be considered healthy.
An interesting visual implication made by MyPlate is that a healthy diet
includes drinking milk. While this is certainly inline with the removal
of the fats and sugars group in that it discourages the drinking of
soda and other sugary drinks, it may cause
some confusion over what is healthy to drink besides milk and what other dairy
products are healthy to eat. For example, is drinking water and eating
eggs instead of drinking milk necessarily unhealthy? Many health specialists
would argue no.
With
the new MyPlate, the USDA is trying to cut down on the rising obesity
rate. Because now fatty foods have been completely eliminated, people
are encouraged
to stay away from sugary and fatty foods that contribute to obesity.
Also, the plate now doesn't specifically show meat in one of the sections
and has been switched to protein, which could include beans or soy
products to limit the fat content that comes from
meat. With the help of the new MyPlate, America can take one more step
to being healthier and less obese.
The reason for this change is because USDA officials claimed that the old Pyramid was too complicated and did not give people a clear way to adjust their diets to the diet recommended by the Pyramid. The new MyPlate was designed to be more artistic and attractive to consumers, in addition to be easier to understand. The old pyramid used to tell people how many servings of food types people should be eating every day. However, the new MyPlate contains none of that information so it is much simpler to read and comprehend.
The reason for this change is because USDA officials claimed that the old Pyramid was too complicated and did not give people a clear way to adjust their diets to the diet recommended by the Pyramid. The new MyPlate was designed to be more artistic and attractive to consumers, in addition to be easier to understand. The old pyramid used to tell people how many servings of food types people should be eating every day. However, the new MyPlate contains none of that information so it is much simpler to read and comprehend.
A food diagram is obviously important to have for people to refer to, but so many things have changed on it, which can really have people questioning it and its healthfulness. How do Americans really view the food pyramid or the new and improved "MyPlate" and is it actually beneficial? Is MyPlate actually easier to understand and does removing the desserts group help you to refrain from eating sugary and fatty foods? How misleading is listing the dairy section in the shape and position of a drinking glass? Does the new MyPlate effect your current diet?
I do believe that the MyPlate is easier to understand for most people. This is because it actually gives a visual picture that people can look at and compare with their own plate, but the question is... What size is the plate anyways? That is definitely a downfall to MyPlate because people can just take it as whatever size of plate they have in their cabinet, but the plate may be oversized. The fact that it removes the dessert group that pertains to unhealthy food though I believe is natural. Usually when we have dinner, we don't dedicate a section of our plate to dessert or sugary food. For example, when thinking about dinner I don't put candy or junk food in the picture of my meal. It is obvious that these things are not put into a real dinner. Also, the dairy section shaped as the drink is misleading. It makes people think that the form of dairy that they have to have is from a glass of milk, and that isn't true. Dairy can come from other things. When thinking about my diet, I honestly don't follow any pyramid of MyPlate, it doesn't effect my diet at all.
ReplyDeleteI personally do not like the new MyPlate design. Because I learned the pyramid visual growing up, that will always be what I picture when thinking about eating habits. Having said this, I do not often consider this visual when I eat so it doesn't make that much of a difference in my diet anyways. I do not think removing the desserts group really does anything because even though most people already have the correct understanding that desserts are not healthy, they remain a part of many people's diets which is why it makes sense to include them in the food diagram. This way people can realistically try to balance the healthier food with a smaller portion of dessert. I also do not see the difference it makes to put the dairy section in the shape and position of a drinking glass. Dairy is dairy, no matter what form you drink or eat it in. The point of the food diagrams is to show you what you should be eating, and as long as there is a section for dairy, I take it to mean eat any kind of dairy you want.
ReplyDeleteThe MyPlate design, I think, is more useful because it breaks your entire daily food intake into an "average" healthy meal. Instead of trying to think "well i had 3 servings of grains already and 1 serving of fruit...etc.", you can just think about having a small portion of everything in each meal. While, like Corey and Lauren, the new design won't affect my diet specifically; I think it will get many more users than the previous Food Guide Pyramid. This is mostly because of the simplicity of the divisions in the plate compared to trying to figure out how many servings each item is and how many servings you should have in a given day. However, I definitely think that the might plate design should find a way to incorporate the importance of exercise. Or the government should release a set of guidelines detailing a suggested way to live a healthy lifestyle. As a healthy diet is just one step to a healthy lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Corey about the MyPlate design being easier to understand for most people. When growing up, we were taught the pyramid design and it was too confusing for children to understand it, so I just gave it up. I knew the basic concepts of it, but I never fully grasped it. I think the MyPlate design will erase that and make it easier for children, the main audience, to understand. I don't think that removing dessert from the new design matters too much. Everyone knows you have to clear your plate BEFORE dessert, so there is no room for it anyways. Joking aside, in general, people know that dessert is normally the worst part of the meal. Taking it out of the new design is just taking out common knowledge. The glass being classified as dairy is very misleading. Dairy can come in numerous different types of ways. Also, there isn't anything specifying water. Water is a huge necessity to any healthy diet.
ReplyDeleteI think the MyPlate makes it easier to see in what proportions the average person should be eating what type of food category. But like Corey said, it is hard to judge how much each proportion really pertains to. Is there a limit on how big each proportion should be? I'm taking it as it doesn't matter how much of each you eat, as long as they are in the proportion that the MyPlate suggests, even though this might not be what the creators intended. I like how they left desserts out of the plate. The old pyramid made it look like sugars and fats were necessary in our diets even though this is untrue. But this does not affect me in anyway because I tried to eat fatty foods in moderation before the MyPlate was released and I will do the same now.
ReplyDeleteIn elementary school, we were always taught the importance of the food pyramid. Even though we didn't necessarily understand it, we could grasp the basic concepts of "eat more of this stuff and less sugary things." As you grow up and can understand more about the actual serving sizes presented in the pyramid, it was almost like law. Sure, people didn't walk around with a food pyramid in their hands all day trying to monitor what they ate, but it was the concept that followed them. So, in my opinion, Americans actually take the food pyramid quite seriously.
ReplyDeleteIn all honestly, I didn't even know about the invention of MyPlate, but I'd imagine that Americans will come to view it in a very similar way. I think these things are beneficial because, although it can be somewhat unclear, it gets people (especially children) thinking a bit about what they eat.
Even though I was taught the food pyramid in middle school, I never really used it when trying to measure out portions of certain food groups. I think My Plate makes it a little easier for the average human being to understand, but I don't think this change will help make people use it more frequently. It will be taught to kids and maybe people that are nutritionists or dietitians will use it; however, I think that people already have their own perspective and point of view as to how to measure out which food groups are necessary and how much of them they should consume. Maybe that sounds ignorant, but speaking as a college student who doesn't have the opportunity to make my own meals, I don't think My Plate changes things very much.
ReplyDeleteI think the transition from the pyramid to the plate was a good move. I think that MyPlate is easier to understand and more practical for real world application. I believe that removing the fats and oils group was a good idea. The fats and sugars people should be eating are natural ones found in fruits and other healthy foods, not from processed and packaged foods. I don’t think that the dairy section is misleading. To me, it can represent a cup of yogurt or a small plate of cheese. I think that water is a more recommended drink than milk.
ReplyDeleteI find the new Myplate design a beneficial resource for the society to use. I learned about the food pyramid when I was a kid and although I still find it useful, I do understand what Matt Elder said in his post. It's a lot easier for kids to understand the size of a proper meal when it is already mapped out for them instead of worrying about counting out the serving size. Also, I agree with Lauren that it does not make any significance in how the dairy section is portrayed. It does not matter how a person gets the dairy they need each day, just as long as they have it.
ReplyDeleteI find Myplate a little easier to understand as you can visualize more on how much of which food group to eat more of, and how much of other food groups you need to cut back on. Like someone else mentioned previously (I think it was Corey), I find the dairy part misleading. It's almost saying that your dairy serving has to come in the form of milk, when you can instead fulfill that section by eating cheese, yogurt, etc. But despite that fact, I think Myplate is better since it's easier to visualize.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest benefit of the new myplate design is its ability to be understood by a broader range of people than the old pyramid scheme. As a kid, the nutritional pyramid flew over my head because it was complex and looked like something out of a biology text book, but who can't relate to a glorified, colorful pie chart? Although i think the new system is better, it will have absolutely no impact on my diet
ReplyDeleteWhile Myplate is easier to understand, I don't think that this will be the last time it changes. This leads me to not trust it as much as I would more consistent model. I do think that it is beneficial to have removed the sugary and fatty foods section. With it being included, people might have worried less about eating those types of food. Without this section people might be more worried about these foods.I do not think that the dairy section being to the side will effect people other than making it seem like milk is the only option for dairy supplements.
ReplyDeleteI took Human Nutrition last year and we learned about the shift from the food pyramid to MyPlate. I definitely agree that MyPlate is easier to use and emphasizes fruits and veggies which are really healthy. The government assumes that the majority of our population is uneducated and lazy which is why they made the transition; which, personally, I think is kind of sad because Americans of all people should be educated about nutrition. I think instead of making it easier the government should have put an emphasis on TEACHING the population about how to eat healthier. I also don't like how there is no mention of fats. The right types of fats are actually really healthy; glycogen, the stored form of glucose which is an essential nutrient for proper body function, is stored in fat. Unsaturated fats are healthy for you and even saturated fats are fine in moderation. MyPlate is easy to follow and has it's advantages but I still think it would be better to educate people about what they're putting into their bodies.
ReplyDeleteThe Myplate design is a nice new way to diagram the food groups. I do like the fact that the sugar group has been taken entirely out of the design. However, in most other aspects I do not really see any big difference between the two. Honestly, to me, its just 2 ways of saying something that really has no impact on my food choices whatsoever. I really have never consulted the pyramid, but I do believe this can be an interesting method to change things around.
ReplyDeleteI believe the new design is very helpful in the fact that it does give a better visualization of how much food should be consumed. I think it would be easier for the new generation to think about, but not so much for our current generation and older because we are already use to the pyramid. But I also believe that we should take into consideration that they removed the fatty group for a reason. We should picture a pyramid in our heads without the top part. There could be a possible way to clear up the dairy part of MyPlate to help the future generations understand what they should eat more clearly.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though the plate is over simplified and can almost confuse some people. The plate only gives you fractions of a plate to use, not specific amounts like the pyramid does. This could confuse people because plates can all be different sizes and this causes different sized proportions. Also, foods like soup fall into more than one food group and people would have a hard time putting them into the right parts of the plate.
ReplyDeleteFor personal use, I have been familiar with the food pyramid for a long time, but I have never actually consulted it for its value or use when choosing a meal. However, diet choice is an increasingly complex subject, and consumers need to be well educated on it. MyPlate does offer some advantages, such as the lack of sugars/sweets and the greater ease of use over the food pyramid, however the food pyramid offers crucial information on the number of daily servings and the detailed number of fats and sugars in each group. Though the food pyramid may be more difficult to approach, it offers substantially more important information than MyPlate does.
ReplyDeleteI think MyPlate is more useful than the food pyramid, it gives the actual amount of each category we need every day, which is more doable and easier to undertand than the food pyramid. Removing sugar and dessert really makes a different in people's diet in order to decrease the obesity, since some people choose their diet based on either the food pyramid or MyPlate. I think that it's good to remove suger from daily diet, since other food already contains it. It's not misleading listing diary in cup to me, since the most taken diary product is milk. I might use MyPlate as a reference in daily diet.
ReplyDelete