New dietary guidelines easier on fat: ; Advocacy group says revision is too weak

DAILY MAIL STAFF

In an age when more West Virginians are overweight than everbefore, the controversial new U.S. dietary guidelines tell Americansto be less afraid of fat. The U.S. Department of Agriculturerevises the guidelines every five years. This year's set is lessrestrictive on fat intake. That's because the 1995 guidelinesbackfired.

"The difference between these and the old ones is that they'veliberalized them," said Linda St. Clair, director of dietaryservices and a registered licensed dietician at Highland Hospital."We cut so much fat out of our diets that we increased carbohydratestoo much and ate more calories."

Some, however, think the new guidelines are too liberal,especially since these are the regulations that are used to setschool lunch programs.

Schools will only be reimbursed for food if it meets thesestandards.

"Basically, we feel like the guidelines in general are just tooweak," said Patricia Bertron, a consultant to the PhysiciansCommittee for Responsible Medicine, an organization that promotesvegetarianism. "The rate of obesity is at an all-time high. We wouldlike to see more emphasis put on grains, vegetables, fruits andlegumes."

West Virginia has the highest rate of obesity in the nation andresidents have been growing steadily fatter for years.

This year's nutritional guidelines softened restrictions on fatin hopes that people will eat more sensible and varied meals. Theyalso included a section about exercise for the first time since theguidelines came into existence in 1985.

The USDA says the guidelines are meant only to promote a healthyweight and are not a dieting tool.

"The guidelines were not designed as a weight-loss program," saidJohn Webster, director of public information at the USDA Center forNutrition, Policy and Promotion. "If people eat the number ofcalories according to their weight and do physical activity, theywill maintain a healthy weight."

This year's set of guidelines discusses regular exercise as a wayto stay healthy - something the USDA hopes will cut back on obesityand sedentary lifestyles.

"We have always focused on food," Webster said. "With theseguidelines, we focus on the need of food and physical activity. It'snatural, but we really never put it together in a document."

Another complaint is the lack of vegetarian guidelines in thegovernment release. The guidelines do not tell people how to live ahealthy vegetarian lifestyle, but do mention getting enough vitaminsif you choose not to eat from one certain food group.

Because there are no guidelines for vegetarians, St. Clairrecommends that people choosing these diets visit dieticians orother health professionals to make sure they will get enoughnutrients. She said that adolescents, especially, often quit eatingmeat but do not replace those vitamins with nutrients from othersources.

The physicians' committee would like to see vegetarianismactively promoted by the government.

"You don't have to have dairy to have an adequate diet," Bertronsaid. "We would really like to see the government start to push thebenefit of plant-based foods."

The committee feels that part of the reason the governmentincluded meat in the food pyramid is because of strong lobbyistssuch as the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Lobbyists foralmost all major food industries pressure the USDA.

"It's been very strongly stated this go-around that when theyeased up on the guidelines there must be lobbyists," St. Clair said."They're out there, and I'm sure they wanted to see more of theirproducts promoted, but I don't think these guidelines areemphasizing any food groups."

The guidelines are made by a separate non-government committee ofdieticians and other health professionals, many who come fromuniversities. They are not supposed to be influenced by lobbyists.

"There are obviously people who will criticize us that we havemeats even displayed (on the pyramid)," Webster said. "There areopponents to virtually everything. We have relied on the bestscience available."

The final complaint that the group has with the guidelines is thevague language. For example, the guidelines say to "limit yourintake of sugars," but they do not state a number of grams of sugaror any way for people to measure their sugar intake.

"It's pretty meaningless," Bertron said. "What's moderate to oneperson could be extreme to someone else. They need to be much morespecific."

Others say that the guidelines shouldn't be specific since theywill apply to large groups of people - such as students in theschool lunch program - and not so much to individuals.

"They are really just a guide anyway," St. Clair said.

Writer Deanna Wrenn can be reached at 348-4810 or by e-mail atdwrenn@dailymail.com.