Kansas City Star Op-Ed: Are the Federal Government’s Dietary Guidelines Making Us Fatter?

By Elizabeth Parks, Kansas City Star, 1/17/18

The rate of obesity in Missouri has nearly tripled since 1990. The Show-Me State is now the nation’s 10th-fattest state.

Along with obesity comes a host of health problems. Three in 10 Missourians have hypertension. One in 10 is diabetic. As of 2010, nearly 384,000 state residents had heart disease. Almost 100,000 had obesity-related cancer.

Missouri is not alone. Obesity rates, and their consequent health problems, are skyrocketing nationwide. For decades, the federal government has tried to combat this epidemic, largely through the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which aim to help people choose eating patterns that improve health.

Paradoxically, over the past two decades, Americans have continued to gain weight, despite many following the government’s dietary advice.

One might assume that no one pays any attention to the government’s guidelines, but they actually have a huge influence on how we all eat. They shape the National School Lunch Program, dictate military rations and provide advice for nursing-home meals. They also influence the doctors, nutritionists and dietitians who deliver dietary advice.

Read the full article at the Kansas City Star.