Page 17 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

application in school environments and in group settings, and electronic support with a website and
accompanying interactive online resources (Figure 1-2).11,12

Figure 1-2 ■ http://ChooseMyPlate.gov.

Source: US Department of Agriculture.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sponsors updates to the Dietary
Guidelines for Americans at regular intervals. The most current edition (2015–2020) summarizes a consensus
of scientific, evidence-based nutrition recommendations for a healthy diet, which are revised every 5 years.
The chairperson of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee was Barbara Millen, DrPH, RDN from
Boston.13 The guidelines are the basis for nutrition counseling and education programs and federal food
assistance programs. They are intended for healthy people and those at high risk for chronic diseases. Poor
diet and physical inactivity are important factors contributing to the epidemic of overweight and obesity and
are associated with major causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. More than one-third of
children and more than two-thirds of US adults are overweight or obese.8

Healthy People 2020

Healthy People 2020 is a set of national goals and objectives designed to guide health promotion and disease
prevention efforts to improve people’s health over a 10-year period. It is released by the US HHS each decade.
More than forty health topics are found on the website. The challenge is to avoid preventable and chronic
diseases from occurring. Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes mellitus are responsible for 7 out of 10 deaths
among Americans annually. A healthy diet helps reduce the risk of overweight and obesity, heart disease, high
blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemias (poor lipid profile), some cancers, and other conditions.8,13

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