HOW TO PUT THE FOOD GUIDE PYRAMID INTO PRACTICE

The Food Guide Pyramid represents changes and challenges for nutrition educators. Nutrition educators will have to change the focus, content , and teaching expectations for lessons. Use of the Pyramid will also require changes in the way the concepts of good nutrition are related to different audiences. In contrast to previous food guides, which rep resented a foundation diet, the Food Guide Pyramid represents the tota l diet, addressing overnutrition as well as undernutrition. The Food G uide Pyramid is a graphic representation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and illustrates the key concepts of variety, moderation, a nd proportionality. For practitioners, one challenge is to find ways t o effectively use the Food Guide Pyramid to teach clients how to put t he Dietary Guidelines into action. Another challenge involves designin g materials that adapt the messages of the Food Guide Pyramid to a var iety of audiences. Teaching materials and instructions should emphasiz e the key concepts of the Food Guide Pyramid and should be clear, cons istent, motivational, and culturally sensitive. Few educational materi als are available to help practitioners with these challenges. In this article we outline the key changes that the Food Guide Pyramid embodi es, and provide ideas and suggestions for using the Pyramid in a pract ice setting.