Whatever your opinion of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., he is the first national candidate to pledge to address the issue of chronic disease in America. Addressing this crisis in children and adults alike requires a bipartisan response.
As former members of the expert committee that oversees the science behind the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, we know that these chronic diseases are primarily caused by unhealthy diets. Our guidelines are part of the problem.
At 7:30 a.m. tomorrow, millions of schoolchildren will be stuffing their cafeteria trays with orange juice, sugary cereal and doughnuts, as school officials urge them to fill up and say the food will give them energy for the day.
This is not a dystopian novel. It's the American breakfast of 2024, served according to guidelines issued every five years by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture.
The guidelines are more than just suggestions: they are a national nutrition guide that will guide everything from school meals to military and hospital meals to dietary advice given by doctors and nutritionists.
But they misled us. Today, Over 70% of American adults and One in five children are overweight or obeseThe rates are even higher for low-income households. This is not just a health crisis, it's a national security crisis. One in three young people I'm too fat to serve in the military.
As members (and former chairs) of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, we strived for the highest quality review. Unfortunately, standards have fallen and our nation's nutrition policy no longer reflects the best and most current science.
The guidelines were initially controversial: in 1980, the National Academy of Sciences ridiculed the basic research on the diet as “generally unimpressive.” The Academy president went further, warning that implementing recommendations without sufficient evidence could have unintended consequences, and that long-term clinical trials would be expensive and difficult to conduct, but would still be a necessary step before making recommendations for the general public.
Despite these concerns, the guidelines were accepted by government authorities for most of the next four decades, despite growing misgivings from skeptics.
In 2017, two landmark studies by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued a scathing ruling that the development process lacked scientific rigor and transparency and did not lead to “trustworthy” guidelines. The report11 Specific Recommendations To improve the rigor and transparency of the guideline development process. However, surprisingly, the follow-up evaluation 2022and 2023 The USDA has made it clear that it has fully implemented None .
The result? Unreliable guidelines that continue to promote obesity and metabolic disorders.
Ever since the first guidelines were published in 1980, we've been told to fear fat and get about half of our total calories as carbohydrates instead. The current guidelines state: Up to 10 percent of calories come from added sugarsEat six servings of grains each day, including three servings of refined grains.
This advice fundamentally misunderstands metabolism. Chronically high carbohydrate intake, especially Refined grains and added sugars —drive obesitydiabetes, heart disease, and other metabolic disorders.
The guidelines also maintain an unfounded hostility towards saturated fats,Evidence from the past decade Some researchers dispute the link to heart disease. Not updating this science continues to unfairly demonize nutrient-rich foods that play an important role in a healthy diet, such as eggs, meat and full-fat dairy products.
Following these guidelines, Americans have increased their grain calorie intake by 28 percent since 1970, while reducing their red meat intake by a similar amount. Use of vegetable oils reduces butter and egg consumption 87 percent increase We have created a dietary disaster by replacing healthy, satiating foods with processed carbohydrates that make us hungry and sick. This is the “unintended consequence” we were warned about.
Fortunately, there is hope thanks to this year's Farm Bill, a massive legislative package that will be reviewed every five years, that may be the key to unlocking a healthier future for America.
The bill proposes important reforms to the guideline development process, requiring “standardized, generally accepted, evidence-based review methods” and mandating full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest among committee members. These changes are an important step toward restoring scientific integrity to national nutrition policy.
Transparency is a particularly important solution in the face of widespread conflict. At least one conflict of interestHalf had more than 30 deals with the food and pharmaceutical industries.
The current lack of rigorous methodology is like a sports game without referees, rules, or sidelines, and it risks arbitrary selection and bias. We have seen this in real time. In 2020, a panel of experts 20 review articles“Reviews by independent teams of scientists from around the world have concluded that there is a lack of solid evidence to support continuing to maintain the saturated fat limit. This selective use of evidence undermines the credibility of the entire process.”
Proposed changes in the Farm Bill offer a chance to break this cycle. By mandating greater transparency and adherence to rigorous scientific standards, we can begin to rebuild trust in these important recommendations. Every meal served in schools, every nutrition label on grocery store shelves, and every doctor's pamphlet could become based on sound science, not outdated assumptions or industry influence.
The Farm Bill gives us a chance to choose science over ideology — a chance to take back our health, one meal at a time.
Dr. Janet C. King is Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, and Chair of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee for 2005. Cheryl Achterberg is a former dean at The Ohio State University and was a member of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.
