| Health
experts on nutrition and diet on Tuesday called on the government to
overhaul its public dietary guidelines, charging that heavy reliance on
carbohydrates and fear of all fats has left the nation seriously overweight.
Americans continue to grow obese and overweight but even the government's
eating recommendations, as laid out in the so-called food pyramid, are
faulty, said several experts at a hearing of the Senate's Consumer Affairs
and Product Safety Subcommittee.
The Department of Agriculture's pyramid oversimplifies the food groups
and stresses such food as bread and pasta at the expense of more proteins
and unsaturated fats.
"Looking at some of the recommendations from the department of
agriculture gives the idea that they've forgotten that we're feeding people,
not horses," said Walter Willet, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition
at the Harvard School of Public Health.
More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight and 30 percent suffer
from obesity, which has been related to illnesses that account for one out
of every eight U.S. deaths annually, according to the Surgeon General's
office.
While the USDA's flawed guidelines are not the only culprits, Willet
said, "The pyramid, it hasn't helped. It probably made it more hard for
people to control their weight."
The food pyramid, seen in most doctors' offices and schools, outlines the
government's version of the healthiest way to eat. Few revisions have been
made since its release by the Department of Agriculture in 1992, said John
Webster, a USDA spokesman.
The latest edition of the pyramid recommends that Americans eat six to 11
servings of carbohydrates a day, or the equivalent of six to 11 slices of
bread. The pyramid also groups together fats, oils and sweets in one group
and recommends they be eaten in small amounts.
"We need to get away from fat phobia," said Stuart Lawrence Trager, a
clinical assistant professor of orthopedic surgery and leading advocate of
the high-protein Atkins diet.
He said the pyramid does not account for the difference between the
healthy unsaturated fats and high-fiber carbohydrates, such as those found
in whole grains, and their undesirable counterparts.
"Is there a link between our ever expanding waistlines and our government
dietary guidelines?" asked Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, a Illinois Republican, who
announced he would introduce legislation to transfer the responsibility of
dietary guidelines away from the USDA.
The USDA may have a conflict of interest by supporting grain and sugar
producers while recommending that Americans eat less carbohydrates.
"Putting the USDA in charge of dietary guidelines is like putting the fox
in charge of the hen house," said Fitzgerald, the chair of the committee
that heard the hearing.
Source: Reuters.
October
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