NEW YORK, January 31, 2011: As the nation’s obesity crisis continues unabated, federal regulators on Monday issued their bluntest nutrition advice to date: ‘Enjoy your food, but eat less.’ Many Americans eat too many calories every day, expanding their waistlines and imperiling their health.
While the recommendations may seem obvious, it is nonetheless considered major progress for federal regulators, who have long skirted the issue, wary of the powerful food lobby. ‘For them to have said ‘eat less’ is really new. Who would have thought?’ said Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. ‘We should have been saying ‘eat less’ for a decade.’ Ms. Wootan said she was nonetheless pleased that the guidelines provided ‘understandable and actionable’ advice rather than the ‘big vague messages’ of the past.
While the guidelines are ostensibly for consumers and federal nutrition programs, they will undoubtedly put additional pressure on the food industry to reformulate processed foods, particularly to reduce the amount of sodium, which was emphasized in the report. Similarly, the guidelines’ advice to reduce portion size could put pressure on restaurants, many of which continue to serve portions so large that they could easily serve two people under the government’s guidelines.