A Dozen New Guides Introduced v to Replace the Old Food Pyramid J r r rr r J L. L dm Thomas H. H Maugh II i Los Angeles Times I The federal government released its new symbol of national nutrition Tuesday morphing the familiar food pyramid into 12 separate pyramids to reflect the nations nation's diverse lifestyles and nutritional needs Replacing the venerable icon that has graced the walls of school classrooms and hospital cafeterias for 15 years the new version requires a computer to help the consumer pick out which of the 12 versions is right for them The new icon called My Pyramid can be viewed at The site has been receiving 1000 to 1500 hits per second and is responding very slowly Department of Agriculture officials said Instead of the old pyramid which had food groups arrayed like building blocks the new pyramid has rainbow- rainbow hued bands running vertically each color representing a different food group Orange represents grains green greenis is for vegetables red stands for fruits yellow means oils blue represents dairy products and purple stands for meat and beans The width of the bands represents the relative proportions of each group that individuals should consume each day with grains and vegetables ing Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said at a news conference that the new pyramid is a system of information to help consumers understand how to put nutrition recommendations into action It is based on the booklet Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 which was released in January It is a series of 23 general recommendations and 18 suggestions that were meant to apply to several individual groups based on age weight nutritional requirements and other attributes One major improvement is that the new pyramid abandons ns the concept f servings which hi Jl most consumers found incomprehensible and calls for specific serving sizes In general terms the new guidelines call for each person to consume 3 ounces of whole grain foods per day 2 cups of fruit 2 21 2 11 2 cups of vegetables and 3 cups of free fat-free or low-fat low milk every day The other change is the emphasis on exercise The guidelines call for Americans to have 30 minutes of moderate moderate moderate mod mod- erate exercise every day to remain healthy For those who are overSee overSee overSee over- over See Food continued on page 6 Food continued from page 4 weight the call is for 60 minutes minutes minutes min min- utes per day while for those trying trying try try- ing to maintain a weight loss the recommendation is 90 minutes minutes minutes min min- utes daily The physical fitness component component component compo compo- nent is represented by a person climbing the side of the pyra pyra- mid The department spent four years and 24 million putting the new pyramid together according to Eric Hentges director of USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion Food companies will this fall begin distributing English and Spanish posters and teaching guides to reach 4 million stu stu- dents Physicians and nutritionists nutrition nutrition- are particularly concerned about this group because of the growing epidemic of obesity among youths If we dont don't change these trends our children may be the first generation that cannot look forward to a longer than their parents said Eric Bost the USDA's undersecretary undersecretary tary for food nutrition and consumer consumer con con- consumer sumer services