Federal nutritional guidelines reshaped

Look at a plate. Imagine fruits and vegetables filling half of it.

That's right. Half of the plate for every meal. Half of the contents in your grocery cart. Half of what you eat at a restaurant.

This is probably the biggest change that will face consumers in the new 2005 federal dietary guidelines, set to be released as early as next week.

The dietary guidelines will be incorporated into a new Food Guide Pyramid - or what some are calling the food guidance system because it's unknown what shape it will take - but that won't be ready until spring.

The guidelines are the blueprint for the school lunch programs, food labeling and government nutrition policy. They were last updated in 2000. No major changes are expected to be made to a draft of the new guidelines that was released in August, so experts are focusing on how to market the new message.

To simplify it, they're changing the recommendation from serving sizes - the fuzzy measurements usually compared to a deck of cards or computer mouse - to cups.

For fruits and vegetables, that means going from 3 1/2 cups to a whopping five cups a day for most people.

"We know that people are not getting what they need," said Leslie Bonci, director of sports medicine nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, which has been involved in reshaping the guidelines. She participated in a final review of the eating plan this week.

"The one-half concept is a concept that they can understand. And it's a message about more of what you can add, rather than take away," she said. "It's a positive message."

Among other nutritional changes, the daily grain recommendations would be trimmed from 4 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups; milk and milk products would increase from 2-3 cups to 3 cups; and total meat, fish and poultry selections would stay the same at three-quarters of a cup. These are based on a daily intake of 2,200 calories for most men and active women, active girls and boys aged 9-13 as well as boys aged 14-18.

The document also counsels reductions in calories and salt intake, recommends whole grains, low-fat milk and fish heavy in omega-3 acids and encourages 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise.