Chapter Introduction
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HEALTHY DIETS
In some communities, full-service grocery stores are hard to find.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Identify the primary characteristics of a healthy diet (Infographic 2.1)
Define nutrient and energy density and describe why it is necessary to consider these factors when making food selections (Infographics 2.2 and 2.3)
Identify the key excesses and inadequacies of the current average American diet (Infographic 2.4)
List the core recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and discuss the significant changes that have occurred in dietary recommendations to Americans over time (Infographics 2.5, Infographic 2.6 and 2.7)
Describe how the USDA’s MyPlate can be used to design a healthy diet (Infographic 2.8)
Explain what characteristics of a healthy diet are common throughout the world (Infographic 2.10)
Identify the information that is required on food labels and describe how this information can be used to select healthier foods (Infographic 2.11)
Identify the types of claims that can be made on food labels and discuss how their use is regulated by the FDA (Infographic 2.12)
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A few years ago, Mari Gallagher met a group of 9-year-old boys living in Alabama who had never seen a strawberry. As a researcher who specializes in urban health, Gallagher was speaking at a local community center about the importance of eating well. She knew many people in the area were struggling to provide their families with healthy foods. To get a better idea of what kids were eating, Gallagher asked a group of young boys what their favorite foods were. Naturally, they listed things that many kids enjoy, like potato chips, cookies, pizza, and other treats. Then she asked them if they enjoyed foods like strawberries or grapes. “And they just looked at me like they didn’t know what those were,” she recalls. “Then they said they had never had them.”
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PROCESSED FOOD any food that is altered from its raw form through processing such as canning, cooking, freezing, or milling; processing often involves adding ingredients such as sodium-containing additives and preservatives
The young boys Gallagher met are among the millions of Americans living in a food desert—a neighborhood or community with little access to a variety of affordable, healthy foods, such as bananas, oranges, and other fresh vegetables and fruits. In urban areas, there may be corner stores with packaged snack foods and sweets. But getting to a grocery store that carries a wide variety of brands and products, along with abundant produce, dairy, and meat selections often requires a long bus ride, which some families don’t have time for or the money to afford. So they rely mostly on chips, fast food, and processed food (often found in boxes or cans with many unfamiliar ingredients) to meet their energy (caloric) needs.
HEALTHY DIET an eating pattern characterized by variety, balance, adequacy, and moderation that promotes health and reduces risk of chronic disease
If these boys had never seen common fruits before and had limited access to other nutritious foods, chances are they were not eating a healthy diet. A healthy diet consists of a variety of foods, chosen from all the major food groups—vegetables, fruits, grains, protein, and dairy—and provides the energy and essential nutrients we need. All food groups are rich in certain nutrients but not others, and play an important role in dietary adequacy. Any time a food group is eliminated because of access problems (or by personal choice), it is important to understand the role that group plays nutritionally and for health promotion, and to devise a plan to meet those nutritional needs.
The catch is, even those with ready access to a wide variety of foods don’t necessarily make choices that yield appropriate amounts of energy and essential nutrients that they need. Availability is only part of the equation. People make food choices based on many other factors like convenience, taste, price, emotions, and cultural and social influences to name a few.