Implementing the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Recommendations for a path forward

Abstract

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provide science‐based recommendations for healthy dietary patterns to promote health and reduce risk of chronic diseases. Yet, since their inception in 1980 and updates every 5 years, Americans fall short of meeting dietary recommendations and diet‐related chronic diseases continue to be a public health concern. In May of 2021, the Institute of Food Technologists and the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, convened a diverse group of thought leaders in health, nutrition, and food science to identify opportunities and approaches to improve consumer adoption of the DGA recommendations. The invited leaders collaborated in roundtable discussions to develop recommendations and strategies to promote adoption of the DGA recommendations after hearing sessions on the latest consumer trends, advances in food science and technology, and effective communications approaches. Participants agreed that changes in consumer behaviors and heightened interest in health due to the novel coronavirus pandemic have created an opportune time to engage consumers about healthy eating. Communications must be simple, tailored to the consumer, and delivered by influencer(s)/spokesperson(s) who are credible sources and share personal values. Innovations in food science and technology have enabled improvements in the safety, health, acceptability, affordability, and availability of foods but opportunities to provide more options to enhance consumption of desired food groups, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, remain. Moving Americans toward healthier dietary patterns aligned with DGA recommendations will require collaborations within the food sector and beyond to achieve broad scale amplification and investment.

Values and preferences influencing willingness to change red and processed meat consumption in response to evidence-based information: a mixed methods study

“…Our study has significant implications for future development of dietary recommendations that add to the ongoing discussions on how to improve the implementation of dietary guidelines (46) . Our findings emphasise the importance of accounting for cultural determinants and individual preferences shaping dietary patterns.…”

Improving Communication of the UK Sustainable Healthy Dietary Guidelines the Eatwell Guide: A Rapid Review

“…The language and tone of nutrition messages is a key consideration across F communications. It is generally recommended that messages are short, simple, sp and easy to understand, based on the food and nutrition literacy of the intended aud [71,76,109]. As an example, the core messages of the Brazilian FBDG were refined There was significant variation in the aims and outcomes of the sources included, with few sources relating specifically to the communication of sustainable dietary guidelines.…”

“…There is a high level of inconsistency in national FBDG with regards to how unhealthy foods are described, which impacts consumer attitudes towards these foods [57,85]. Other terms included in sustainable healthy FBDG which may not be well understood by consumers include plant-based [93], whole grains [107], legumes [65], balance [76] and dietary variety [109]. It is therefore necessary to ensure clarity and understanding of the terms used in FBDG communications.…”

“…A clear theme throughout the literature is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to effectively communicating FBDG. Instead, the targeting of communications to specific population groups, considering differences in physical, social, cultural, religious and envi-ronmental factors that influence dietary choices as well as relatable language and symbols, is advised [75,76,109].…”

“…The popularity of different platforms and the most effective strategies differ between population groups. It is therefore recommended to use appropriate communication channels and tailored messages and communication strategies for the target audience [59,109]. In addition to social media, the majority of individuals obtain nutrition information from traditional media, in particular television, newspapers and the internet [92,110].…”