DIETARY GUIDELINES IN PERSPECTIVE

To assess whether dietary guidelines for Americans are appropriate for young children, the evolution of dietary guidance, the nature of the guidelines, evidence used to support the concept of diet modification to prevent heart disease and the rationale for extending application o f the guidelines to children have been examined. As health improved du ring this century, life expectancy lengthened, and diseases associated with aging became major causes of death. As a consequence, emphasis o n dietary advice for selecting a nutritionally adequate diet-the prima ry need of children-declined, whereas emphasis on dietary advice for p reventing chronic and degenerative diseases increased. It is clear fro m reading the text accompanying the guidelines that they were proposed to prevent diseases of aging by reducing consumption of animal produc ts. Critical evaluation of evidence bearing on the concept of the guid elines reveals that there are grounds for skepticism about claims for the effectiveness of diet modification as a measure for reducing the i ncidence of heart disease, Also, the rationale for extending the guide lines to young children is based on inferences from observations on ad ults, not on direct evidence that children will benefit from following them. There is, thus, ample justification for proposing separate diet ary guidelines for children.