Going back-to-school to learn a new food pyramid

by Sarah Gilbert (Subscribe to Sarah Gilbert's posts)
Aug 27th 2004 2:46PM

Filed under: Health & Safety: Babies, Nutrition: Health

Remember those oh-so-simple days of our youth? When the food pyramid was so clean and uncluttered, with manageable-seeming serving sizes? Then came the vastly re-shuffled pyramid of the 90s, with its 6-11 servings of grains and other yummy low-fat carbs.

Now a panel of scientists and doctors has recommended that the new food pyramid, to be released by the government in the next few months, contain some new guidelines:

Of your carbohydrate servings, at least three should be one-ounce servings of whole grains;
A new category called "discretionary calories" (a.k.a. sweets and treats) should be added, to reflect your allowance for food only useful for its deliciousness;
Do not specifically tell people to be moderate in their use of added sugars like soda and candy; and
Remind people to exercise for weight loss, up to 60 minutes per day.

On a side note, when I was looking for an image for this article I found a huge variety of graphical representations of the food pyramid, some hideous, some elegant. There were creative pyramids with photoshopped images of food as the levels; a simplified version with just a few items on each level; and terrifically cluttered pyramids busy with colors and all kinds of foods.

I recalled the simple goodness of the food pyramid from when I was in grade school, which I later recalled was not a pyramid but the �basic four.� I found an image that I think is similar to the one used in my grade school. Do you have a food pyramid image that you like? Post a comment, let me know.