USDA releases supermarket brochure to back up MyPyramid

The brochure was developed by the Food Information Council (IFIC), the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (USDA/CNPP).

'Your personal Path to Health'​ provides "realistic, manageable"​ tips based on MyPyramid's five food groups, as well as managing portion sizes, eating out at restaurants and budgeting calories for sweet foods and beverages.

"Consumers tell us that they want to be healthier, but don't know how to easily incorporate beneficial steps into their busy lives,"​ said IFIC's Susan Borra, adding that the new brochure "provides consumers with a roadmap on how to take small steps for better health, which they can personalize to fit their lifestyles."​

With growing public concern about overweight and obesity and interest in improving health, USDA designed MyPyramid to reach a broad spectrum of the American public. MyPyramid.gov was designed to incorporate the latest, most credible science as reflected in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, while offering a practical tool to individualize and personalize the food guidance.

The MyPyramid web site can be accessed in both English and Spanish and a child friendly version, MyPyramid for Kids, has also been developed.

And just over a year after its introduction, the USDA's MyPyramid.gov website has become one of the most popular websites in government, logging over 1.7 billion hits. Over one million individuals are now enrolled users of the site's tool that allows each person to analyze his or her individual eating and physical activity behavior.

But because it is a web-based tool, certain sectors of the population are still unlikely to access it, prompting the development of a hard-copy advice booklet.

"The problem with having a web-based program is that it is sometimes difficult to get consumers to know where it is and what it's all about. The brochure leads them to the website and also provides some direct information on small steps that can be taken to get on the path to good health,"​ Borra told FoodNavigator-USA.com.

Some 300,000 copies of the brochure have already been printed, and these are expected to start appearing in supermarkets throughout the US.

"Supermarkets across the country are working to give consumers the clear, consistent and commonsense dietary guidance they seek. This brochure, well-grounded in the MyPyramid program, is an excellent resource, which food retailers everywhere can share with customers,"​ said Dagmar Farr of FMI, which represents the nation's supermarkets.

And according to Borra, the new guide can also be used by food and beverage manufacturers who want to provide their customers with additional nutritional advice.

Indeed, other initiatives have also recently been taken to promote the nation's dietary guidelines. The USDA in May entered into cooperative agreements with three partners to increase the public's knowledge of both the Dietary Guidelines and MyPyramid.

The three nationally recognized organizations selected to receive cooperative agreements are Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, the Naturally Nutrient Rich Coalition (NNRC) and the Hispanic Communications Network (HCN).

The new public private partnerships are designed to collaboratively educate American consumers in creative, innovative ways on important nutrition messages that help individuals to make better food choices and improve physical activity behaviors.

Each cooperative agreement will link science-based dietary guidance to the nutrition needs of consumers, facilitate nutrition policy coordination, and promote nutrition education. USDA will work cooperatively with the selected partners to implement their proposed multi-year, multi-dimensional nutrition promotion and education campaigns. The agreements do not involve the use of any federal funds.

To view a copy of the new brochure 'Your Personal Path to Health'​, click here​.