January 4, 2020

THE NEW DIETARY GUIDELINES, TRUMP-ERA EDITION: The Trump administration over the holidays published its formal guidance for healthy eating — and decided to buck the advice of external scientific advisers who recommended that men drink less alcohol and that everyone cut down on added sugars, our Helena Bottemiller Evich reports.

The official Dietary Guidelines for Americans, updated every five years, influence federal nutrition programs and nutritional messaging for millions of American (though most people don’t follow the government’s advice). Before USDA and HHS unveiled the final blueprint last week, an advisory group of dietary experts weighed in over the summer and recommended several notable changes to the existing advice:

— The panel proposed changing the definition of “moderate drinking” to just one alcoholic beverage per day for men, down from the previous limit of two. That prompted sharp blowback from the alcohol industry, and the agencies ultimately declined to change the advice.

— USDA and HHS also ignored the advisers’ call for stricter limits on added sugars, instead sticking with the Obama administration’s advice that individuals get no more than 10 percent of their calories from added sugars. (The advisory committee recommended lowering the limit to 6 percent.)

So what’s new? The updated guidelines are the first to include dietary advice for infants, toddlers and pregnant women. They also have a broader theme of encouraging consumers to “make every bite count” by choosing nutrient-rich foods and beverages, with five categories — fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy and protein — accounting for 85 percent of daily calories.

Why it matters: Nearly three in four adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese, and about 60 percent have a diet-related disease. Childhood obesity is also a big problem, with 40 percent of children and teens overweight or obese.