Awareness of the United States Federal Dietary Guidance and Its Association with Dietary Quality

Abstract

Since the early decades of the twentieth century, the US Federal Government has published advice to the public on consuming a healthy diet (J Am Diet Assoc. 1994;124:1799S–1807S). In 1980 the first Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) were jointly released by the Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) (Dietary guidelines for Americans, 2010). The DGA are reviewed and revised as necessary every 5 years and have become the primary federal guidance to the public on nutrition and healthy eating habits in the USA. The USDA has developed guides to help consumers incorporate the DGA into their diet, the most recent of which is called MyPlate (MyPlate: First Lady, Agriculture Secretary Launch MyPlate Icon as a New Reminder to Help Consumers to Make Healthier Food Choices (Press Release), 2011). In addition to the DGA, other federal dietary guidance is published and promoted, for example, the National Fruit and Vegetable Program (known as “Fruit & Veggies—More Matters”) is aimed specifically at increasing fruit and vegetable intake in the general population. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan was developed as a result of federally funded research on hypertension (Your guide to lowering your blood pressure with DASH: DASH Eating Plan, 2006). A comparison of nutrient values indicated the DASH eating plan was consistent with the MyPyramid, a food guide developed by the USDA that is based on the DGA (J Am Diet Assoc. 2008;108:522–528).