Clearing Up the Confusion About Healthy Eating

In June 2011, the food pyramid-the standard representation of a healthy diet for nearly two decades-was replaced by MyPlate, a simple visual with five colored sections showing the ratio of fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins and dairy recommended for each meal.

Why the big change? The old pyramid turned out to be complicated and misleading. For instance, although all fats are considered bad, the pyramid seemed to condone use in moderation. Also, portion size-a concept meaning different things to different people-was not clearly outlined.

MyPlate is a simple, powerful visual cue to help people adopt healthy eating habits at meal times by displaying distinct proportions for each food group in relation to a standard plate.

For instance, MyPlate shows we should eat smaller portions, dedicate at least half our plate to fruits and vegetables and avoid sugary drinks.