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Healthy eating guides: time for a rethink?

Article Excerpt
In most countries, the 'public face' of the national nutrient intake recommendations takes the form of a food choice or 'healthy eating' guide. Most countries base their guide on food groups but the number of food groups varies widely from as few as three, in countries such as Fiji and a number of African countries, to seven or eight in countries such as the Caribbean. Industrialised countries, generally use between four and six food groups. The graphic display of food group recommendations also varies from country to country, from pyramids/triangles (e.g. USA, Nordic countries and some health groups in China, Australia and New Zealand) to a plate or circular/semicircular design (UK, Australia, many European countries and the Caribbean). Other designs include a food square (Iran), a quarter rainbow (Canada), steps (New Zealand), or a traffic light (UK Health Education Council).

Australia's current guide, the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGHE), (1) is based on the National Health and Medical Research Council's 1994 Core Food Group (2) analysis, which translates nutrient requirements to food consumption recommendations. This, in turn, was based on both the 1991 Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDIs) (3) and Australian 1989-1990 per capita food availability data. (4) The AGHE also took into account the Dietary Guidelines for Australians (1992) (5) and Children and Adolescents (1995). (6)

Since the AGHE was developed, a new set of Dietary Guidelines (7-9) and a...

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