The Dietary Guidelines were approved by the AHA's Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee in June 2000. They state: "The present formulation of the AHA Dietary Guidelines acknowledges the difficulty in most cases of supporting specific target intakes with unequivocal scientific evidence. Moreover, many individuals find it difficult to make dietary choices based on such numerical criteria. Therefore, the approach taken here is to focus the major population guidelines on the general principles..."
AHA's advice includes the following:
- eat fatty fish, such as salmon, at least twice weekly;
- consume fruits, vegetables (especially those that are dark green, deep orange, and yellow), and whole grains; and
- limit salt and alcohol intake. No more than one drink a day for women.
A previous article on this topic page has discussed the obsession anorexics have with numbers. Behaviors such as calorie counting, pound counting, and dress-size comparisons help maintain the illness. That a respected scientific body has chosen to promote general principles of good nutrition over figures bodes well for anorexics and sufferers of other eating disorders trying to overcome their illnesses.
In a recent article reviewing the Guidelines, Time Magazine's Christine Gorman, writes: "If you follow the advice, your dietary percentages will fall into line naturally...Now you won't need a calculator to figure out what's best for you."1. This is an effective counterweight to media images of reedy models gushing about their measurements.
Another is a program that was sponsored by the
Baltimore Museum of Art and profiled in a July 18, 2000 New York Times article2. According to the article, several Girl Scout Troops and over 50 other girls and women attended a program at the museum entitled "Feast, Famine, and the Female Form: Exploring Body Image Through Art." The program, according to The Times, is part of a national campaign to prevent eating disorders. Psychologists gave participants a walking tour of the museum's art exhibits, warning them about the dangers of excessive dieting, and stressing the fact that women need a certain amount of fat in order to bear children. The campaign attempts to foster body image acceptance among participants, and the idea that beauty knows no particular shape or size.
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