Failing the Test

Failing the Test
Blank Food Pyramid
Back in the 1990s, the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion created the Healthy Eating Index "to measure how well American diets conform to recommended healthy eating patterns." (3) In its original form, this score sheet used five elements from the longstanding USDA Food Guide Pyramid (number of daily servings of grains, vegetables, fruits, meat, and dairy products) and five from the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (total fat in the diet, percentage of calories from saturated fat, cholesterol intake, sodium intake, and variety of the diet). A score of 100 meant following the federal recommendations to the letter while a score of 0 meant totally ignoring them. (The USDA has since updated the score sheet to reflect the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005.)

To see how well the principles embodied in the Healthy Eating Food Pyramid stacked up against the government's advice, Harvard School of Public Health researchers created an Alternate Healthy Eating Index with a scoring system similar to the USDA's index. They then compared the two indexes, using information about daily diets collected from more than 100,000 female nurses and male health professionals taking part in two long-term studies.

Men who scored highest on the USDA's original Healthy Eating Index (meaning their diets most closely followed federal recommendations) reduced their overall risk of developing heart disease, cancer, or other chronic disease by 11 percent over 8 to 12 years of follow-up compared to those who scored lowest. Women who most closely followed the government's recommendations were only 3 percent less likely to have developed a chronic disease. (4)

In comparison, scores on the Alternate Healthy Eating Index did appear to correlate more closely with disease in both sexes. Men with high scores (those whose diets most closely followed the guidelines in the Healthy Eating Pyramid) were 20 percent less likely to have developed a major chronic disease than those with low scores. Women with high scores lowered their overall risk by 11 percent. Men whose diets most closely followed the Healthy Eating Food Pyramid lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease by almost 40 percent; women with high scores lowered their risk by almost 30 percent.

"The new USDA dietary pyramid is a lost opportunity to help Americans make informed choices about diet and long-term health," says Dr. Willett. "It's clear that we need to rebuild the pyramid from the ground up, not just tip it on its side and dress it up with new colors. Every American deserves it."
Blank Food Pyramid