USDA New Food Pyramid

Posted by Cyndi Allison Dec 16, 2006

I've been watching the development of the new USDA food pyramid. I was teaching a class on healthy eating to Scouts when the pyramid was in the development stage and saw some early versions before the official pyramid came out back in April.

The most important (to my way of thinking) change in the pyramid was including the exercise component reflected now with steps up the side, giving the pyramid a 3-D look.

Also of note is the acknowledgement that different people have different diet needs. The interactive web site asks for some basic information for customized help with eating and living better. Visit the USDA Pyramid site and play around. It's fun, and you can learn a lot.

The one thing I don't like about the new pyramid is that they turned the sections vertical to show the balance of foods. Some of the bars are more narrow indicating smaller amounts needed of certain food groups, but it was much easier to see the balance with the old horizontal set up. The yellow stripe for oils on the new pyramid is the narrowist stripe, but it doesn't have the same impact as the tiny tip at the top where the "use little of" group used to be on the old pyramid. Though the new pyramid is visually pleasing, I think the old horizontal bars were easier to understand and mentally process.