Earlier this month the USDA did away with the old “Food Pyramid”, replacing it with the new “Choose My Plate” recommendations. Largely I’m thrilled to see the USDA present a simple attractive graphic that even kids can understand. Along with the simplified graphic they also include some other highlights:
- enjoy food but eat less
- avoid oversized portions
- make half your plate fruits and vegetables
- drink water instead of sugary drinks
- switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk
- compare sodium in foods
- Make at least half your grains whole grains.
What I like about the new USDA guidelines:
- There is flexibility. The ratios are not set in stone. There is some room to tailor the plate to the individual.
- This plate provides a visual which shows the importance of fruits and vegetables which together should fill half the plate. Many of us parents get stuck on trying to fill kids with carbs and worrying about protein. Those sections are usually easy. Most kids in America eat twice the protein that they need, and overemphasizing carbs is largely what has created an obese nation. As parents we should be doing our best to get the left half of the plate full of as many types of plant foods as kids will accept. During well-child visits, I often ask families about how much fruits and veggies their children like. If they like and eat many, I’m usually reassured that their diet is adequate.
- I like the message of avoiding sugary beverages. Too many children drink too many calories. Sweet drinks like sports beverages, juice, sweet tea, and soda are contributing to the crisis of overweight kids. What’s wrong with drinking water? Nothing, says the USDA and I LIKE THAT!
- Highlighting the idea of “empty calories” is key when thinking about food. The USDA says that much of the American diet consists of “empty calories”. These are the added fats and sugars that provide no nutritional benefit. So many parents think of food as fuel only. However, food is much more than that. It has vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals which serve as medicine to keep us healthy. If we keep that in mind, we may make more wise choices and maximize those important benefits for each calorie we feed our children.
Finally, I would say that parents should share this new USDA visual with kids that are old enough to understand. Talk about why the plate looks like it does, and strive to make your plate match the visual. For more detailed information visit the USDA website, choosemyplate.gov.
Tonight in honor of the USDA recommendations we arranged our dinner accordingly!
1) Mixed fruits: apricots, strawberries, and blackberries
2) Herb salad with goat cheese, walnuts, and roasted beets
3) Red rice with onions, toasted almonds, and peas
4) Baked tilapia
5) Glass of low fat milk
I’m always looking for easier ways to figure out the pyramid (Canada Food Guide here) and I appreciate the visual on the plate…my problem is when I see foods that are so out of the norm (Salad with goat cheese,walnut & beets?Red rice with nuts & peas? Talapia?) Who eats this,honestly??! My daughter is 17 now,there’s NO WAY she,or I for that matter,will eat such things! It’d be nice,if for once,people put food into perspective on not only a realistic plain…but a budgetary one.Can you give examples of things the rest of the population would normally eat? I get salad & fruit…but the rest of it is just a lil too pretentious for me…can you help?
I’m posting your link online to get the word out there because I feel the visual aspect is very important.
Thanks,
Tabatha in Canada
Tabatha,
Thanks for sharing my link about Choose MyPlate. In my experience, children will eat what their parents expose them to. My children are five and nine year- old and they both DEVOURED the meal in that plate. Raising an adventurous eater does not happen overnight. My children, like most were picky and preferred bland, sweet salty tastes when they were younger. By exposing them to food by cooking often, gardening, eating and preparing ethnic foods,and establishing some mealtime rules about trying new foods, I have seen their taste buds blossom. The goal for me has been to raise kids who could eat and enjoy a lot of different types of food and benefit from the nutrition those foods offer. I have been photographing a lot of different” Choose MyPlate” meals which I hope to put together in one post. In the meantime you can find some of those photos on my facebook page “Doctor Yum”. Perhaps you might find some of those choices more appealing. If you search “Budget Friendly” in my recipes section of the website, you can find some of my recipes with a cost per serving. Good luck in finding balanced healthy meals for you and your family!
Thank you for posting this, and calling attention to it at our last well-child visit. I had heard about the new USDA guidelines, but reading over it carefully, it really makes sense for my family. It simplifies it, and for me, that’s a good thing, because I’m super-busy. But even with my over-loaded, over-extended brain, I can remember that half of our plates should be fruits and/or vegetables. Another tip that has changed the way my family eats is the water tip. If my kids aren’t drinking milk, they are drinking water at home. Now, I’m not so rigid that I can’t let them have a juice box at a party. But I am proud to say that my kids drink water with gusto, all the time. It was just a matter of getting over the juice habit.
Thanks for your website, Dr. Yum!
Great job, Lauren. I’m glad you found this post helpful. It’s so much easier to visualize a meal on a plate then a pyramid! I’m the same way with juice. We drink it occasionally, but as a rule my kids really prefer water and milk. Over time it’s better for their teeth and their waistline!
This is great! Thanks for posting!