Feb 14 2008

USDA challenges food companies to help end childhood obesity

The USDA has just issued a corporate challenge to food companies to “step up to help end childhood obesity by empowering the household gatekeeper to assist her in modeling a healthy lifestyle and by providing information to help her make healthy food choices for herself and her family.” How? Uh oh. By using MyPyramid. This may indeed be a challenge. Even nutritionists have trouble understanding how to use MyPyramid. USDA provides a long list of suggestions of ways food companies might use MyPyramid.  These make me think we will have to wait and see whether such things as CDs in cereal boxes, placemats, and websites are able to use the Pyramid for real education rather than for marketing the companies’ products.

8 comments
Share |
Tags: ,

Comments

[...] What to Eat wrote an interesting post today on USDA challenges food companies to help end childhood obesityHere’s a quick excerpt The USDA has just issued a corporate challenge to food companies to “step up to help end childhood obesity by empowering the household gatekeeper to assist her in modeling a healthy lifestyle and by providing information to help her make healthy food choices for herself and her family.” How? Uh oh. By using MyPyramid. This may indeed be a challenge. Even nutritionists have trouble understanding how to use MyPyramid. USDA provides suggestions of ways food companies might use MyPyramid, but we w [...]

My Pyramid? Hahahahahaha. April Fool’s Day comes early this year.

If this can really achieve the effect, it should not belong to the food, but the drugs?

  • Sarah
  • February 15, 2008
  • 1:51 pm

And just as an added touch, of course the ‘household gatekeeper’ is assumed to be a woman. Nice touch, USDA.

Still think Wansink is the right guy for this job?

  • Anton
  • February 15, 2008
  • 2:38 pm

Has strict adherence to MyPyramid ever been shown to ‘fight childhood obesity?”

Pray tell, what tactics HAVE been shown in the real world to ‘fight childhood obesity?”

Lotta armchair theorizing, but no experience actually DOING it.

  • naomi
  • February 16, 2008
  • 11:56 am

3 cups of milk a day for a 35 year old? I don’t know any adults who drink that much!

  • Healthy Weight
  • February 16, 2008
  • 5:37 pm

It’s like an unexperienced baker attempting to work with neither the recipe nor measuring cups & spoons.
Without having the right tools they won’t know how to make it work properly.
Idea! With the right tools–a guide that is made to promote health in a clear concise manner would be a great tool to have better results with this challenge.

I am certain that Brian Wansink, will be a great contribution–he just started!

Leave a comment