Addressing misinformation about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition 2024-05, Vol.119 (5), p.1101-1110
• Main Authors: de Jesus, Janet M, Stoody, Eve E, DeSilva, Dana M, Quam, Julia B, Obbagy, Julie E, Anderson-Villaluz, Dennis, Rahavi, Elizabeth B, Adler, Meghan E, Lasswell, Tessa A, Beckman, Kara A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Careers; Chronic illnesses; Communication; conflict of interest; Diet; Diet - standards; Diet, Healthy - standards; Dietary guidelines; Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee; Dietary intake; evidence-based; False information; Food intake; Guidelines; Health promotion; healthy dietary pattern; Humans; Information processing; Medical personnel; nutrition misinformation; Nutrition Policy; nutrition science; public health; Risk management; Scientists; systematic review; United States; United States Department of Agriculture
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.02.034

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provides science-based advice on dietary intake to promote health, reduce risk of chronic disease, and meet nutrient needs. It is jointly published by the United States Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture (USDA) every 5 y. As chronic diseases continue to rise to pervasive levels, helping the United States population follow the DGA is especially important for improving the health of our nation. The DGA is developed using a rigorous and transparent scientific process, and with the advice of an independent, external committee of leading scientists. Career federal nutrition scientists who manage the process ensure that the methods used to develop the DGA remain state of the art. Unfortunately, misinformation about the scientific basis, transparency, and relevance of the DGA for the United States population threatens its credibility. The main objective of this article is to correct this misinformation with factual information about the process used to develop the DGA. The DGA provides guidelines for the general public, and its primary audience includes policymakers and nutrition and health professionals who help individuals and families consume a healthy dietary pattern. Providing accurate information may bolster trust in the recommendations among these audiences while improving implementation across sectors to promote better adherence to the DGA, thereby improving diet quality among the United States population.