Page 16 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals
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Figure 1-1 ■ Variables motivating change in food choices and health behavior.
Government Public Health Initiatives
Many government agencies have developed public health education initiatives to improve the health outcomes
of populations. The United States Department of Agriculture, for example, has ongoing programs to evaluate
the status of the American public and provide guidelines for improving health. The National Health and
Nutrition Evaluation Survey (NHANES) is an ongoing, federally funded longitudinal program that provides
data on a randomized set of children and adults of varying ages by collecting data on dietary intake and
anthropometrics.9 This dataset is often used by investigators to conduct research on health trends over time
correlated to behavior changes.
ChooseMyPlate
The United States Department of Agriculture “ChooseMyPlate” gives a positive and visual message of how to
select foods for each meal.10 On the plate, fruits and vegetables should make up half of the diet, with more
vegetables than fruits. The other half should include grains and protein, such as meat, poultry, and fish, with
more grains than proteins. Dairy is shown on the side. Adaptations to the ChooseMyPlate program include
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