Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Course Description

This course will provide complete information on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005. This federal publication presents current scientific information that will be useful for healthcare providers to use in patient education. The guidelines were developed by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee that was appointed by the Secretaries of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service and U. S. Department of Agriculture for the required five-year revision and update. The committee revised the guidelines to provide the latest science-based advice for promoting health and preventing risk for chronic disease through diet and physical activity. The guidelines are the basis for federal programs and policy. The document is not written for consumers – it is written for policymakers, nutrition educators and healthcare providers – for use in developing policy and educational programs to teach the public about nutrition, exercise, health, and disease prevention. The guidelines cover topics that are inter-related: adequate nutrition, weight management, physical activity, food groups to encourage, fats, carbohydrates, sodium and potassium, alcoholic beverages, and food safety. It is important to note that they are meant to be implemented as a whole, not separately.