Test Your Knowledge

A food guide pyramid is a tool intended to help people create a daily dietary plan that is rich in nutrients and low in saturated fats, cholesterol and other substances that pose risks to good health. For many years, the best known pyramid was the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid. However, in 2005, the USDA issued a revised version of the pyramid called MyPyramid.

MyPyramid forsakes the “one size fits all” approach of the old pyramid and instead urges people to tailor diets to their individual needs. This is accomplished through an interactive approach in which people are asked to visit the agency’s Web site and use tools to build a personalized diet. MyPyramid also encourages regular physical activity as an essential part of any healthy dietary regimen.

MyPyramid groups types of foods into categories to encourage people to choose a selection of foods from each of the major food groups. Eating a variety of foods is essential to creating a well-balanced diet that provides all the nutrients necessary for good health.

The individual food categories in MyPyramid are:

• Grains
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Oils and fats
• Dairy
• Meats, beans, fish and poultry

In addition, the MyPyramid guide emphasizes the importance of daily exercise in crafting a healthy dietary plan. People are urged to get 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every day. This can be structured exercise (e.g., aerobics, bicycling, basketball) or more informal activity (e.g., walking briskly, gardening).

The USDA food pyramid is not the only such tool available to people seeking to build a healthier diet. Other food pyramids also exist that emphasize healthy eating plans for specific types of diets. These are focused on ethnic diets (e.g., Asian, Latin American and Mediterranean pyramids), narrow diets (e.g., vegetarian pyramids) and diets established by organizations (e.g., pyramids established by the Mayo Clinic or the Harvard School of Public Health).

The USDA suggests that people gradually transition into eating according to the MyPyramid guidelines. Over a lifetime, a person’s nutrition needs gradually evolve. For this reason, people are advised to return to the MyPyramid.gov site from time to time to update their personal information and to incorporate any appropriate changes to their diet.