By Faith Peppers
University of
Georgia

As obesity closes in on tobacco as the No. 1 preventable cause
of death in the United States, federal nutrition experts have
made some changes to the dietary guidelines on the food
pyramid.

The food pyramid, introduced 12 years ago, is a guide to help
people plan what they eat each day. The guidelines built around
it offer expert advice to promote health and reduce the risk of
chronic diseases.

“These new dietary guidelines represent our best science-based
advice to help Americans live healthier and longer lives,” said
Tommy Thompson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, in the release report.

“Dietary Guidelines for Americans” is published jointly every
five years by HHS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Following the guidelines can reduce the risk of major chronic
diseases.

The 2005 guidelines put stronger emphasis on calorie control
and physical activity.

“Around 64 percent of adults in this country are overweight or
obese,” said Connie Crawley, an extension nutrition expert with
the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer
Sciences.

“Of that number, 30 percent are obese,” she said. “And the
number of severely obese people has increased even faster than
those who have become just overweight and or mildly obese.”

Between 1988 and 1992, only 56 percent of adults were
overweight or obese and only 23 percent were obese, Crawley
said. And the percentage of children and teens between 6 and 18
years old who are overweight has doubled in the past 20 years
to 15 percent.

“Genetics haven’t changed that quickly,” Crawley said. “Our
eating and exercise habits have.”

Not eating right or getting enough exercise can lead to
cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension,
osteoporosis, certain cancers and other diseases.

In simple terms, the HHS-USDA report says the biggest reason
people gain weight is that they take in more calories than they
use up. The key is to find the right balance of healthful foods
and physical activity.

But that’s not easy. “There’s a lot of research now trying to
figure that out,” Crawley said. “Certainly, eating more fruits,
vegetables and whole grains, as recommended in the guidelines,
looks to be very important.”

These foods help you cut fats and add fiber to your diet, she
said. And they help you feel full. Natural foods like these may
have other ways to help control weight, too.

The advertising and grocery-space ratio between these foods and
unhealthy products needs to change, Crawley said, “so healthier
foods are promoted more and more healthy, tasty foods are
available to kids and adults.”

The guidelines urge Americans to get moving. For adults, they
recommend:

“Moderate” activities are those like gardening or yard work,
vacuuming, washing the car or windows, badminton, cycling
moderately fast, walking 3 miles per hour, water aerobics,
ballroom dancing, volleyball and swimming moderately fast.

“Vigorous” activities include fast dancing, cycling, jogging or
swimming; playing racketball, handball or full-court
basketball; walking 4 miles per hour; power lifting; and
digging.

The recommendation for weight loss is up from 30 minutes in
previous guidelines. “That 30 minutes may be enough to help
cardiovascular risk reduction,” Crawley said. “But true weight
control does seem to require more, especially as we get
older.”

It’s OK to break up that time, Crawley said. “The key is sit
less and move more. Standing is better than sitting, and moving
is better than standing.”

The guidelines stress eating more fruits and vegetables, whole-
grain foods and nonfat or low-fat milk or milk products.

The complete guidelines are at
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/.

(Faith Peppers is a news editor for the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)