How the Nutritional Food Guide Has Changed Over the Past Century

If you attended grade school any time during the last half century, you are familiar with one form or another of a guide to proper nutrition. These guides included a variety of shapes, lists, and patterns that were designed to educate the public about dietary needs for health.

Depending on the decade, and in some instances the group designing and promoting a particular guide, you would find differing emphasis on certain food groups. Let's take a look at the changes in food guides through the years.

1920s and 1930s - Keeping in mind that during this time refrigeration in homes was not commonplace, many of the guidelines were focused on safety. Food groups were established by nutritionists, but since this period in time was during the Great Depression, there were allowances for cheaper ways to feed the family. This did not always constitute the healthiest choices if we use what we know today about sugars, carbohydrates, and processed foods.

1943 USDA nutrition chart showing the "Basic 7" food groups. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1940s - This decade's food guidelines were influenced by World War II. The 'Basic Seven' food groups introduced in the wheel graphic coincided conveniently with war rationing coupons. An interesting oddity in this food group wheel is that it was very specific about what foods to eat. For instance, instead of a group called "fruit and vegetables," in this guideline the group is called "citrus fruit, tomatoes, raw cabbage." There is also a group called "butter and fortified margarine" and one called "milk, cheese, and ice cream." However, you will not find serving sizes in this guideline. It just recommends that you have a number of servings from each group and that you "Eat This Way Every Day."

1950s to 1970s - In this guide we drop from seven food groups to four in order to simplify. The focus during these decades turned to fitness and adequate nutrition for health. Now we are given serving size suggestions within the four food groups (milk, meat, vegetable and fruit, and bread and cereal). However, there is no mention of sugars or fats.

1970s and 1980s - During these decades, a fifth food group is introduced as a means of informing consumers not to consume too much of a good thing. This food group covered sugars, fats, and alcohol. In the 1980s the Red Cross developed a graphic wheel design which included goals for nutrition as well as for moderation. Serving sizes were calculated for different caloric needs of an individual. This 'Food Wheel' was very much the inspiration for the Food Pyramid.

1990s - The Food Guide Pyramid took the graphic approach to a whole new level. Now the portions were easily understood at a glance. The largest servings per day were at the bottom, building upward to what we want as the smallest servings. This guide laid  out portions based on calories and set goals for optimum nutrition as well as moderation. This guideline added nuts to the meat group, but otherwise remained basically the same as the Food Wheel.

English: (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2005 - Aside from the new vertical design, the food guide called MyPyramid continued along the same basic lines. However, this guide did add oils to the foods list and added physical activity along with twelve calorie levels as additional concepts when considering an individual's nutritional needs. As you can see, the food guidelines were getting more complex, again.

2011 - Many see the introduction of the MyPlate food guideline as a return to the less complex system from the 1940s. Here we have an easily understood graphic of a plate and cup. The plate and cup are divided and labeled with 5 different food groups - vegetables, fruits, grains, protein, and dairy. By glancing at the illustration, we notice a couple changes from the previous guidelines. The most notable is the "fats, sugars, alcohol" food group is gone, losing the lesson in moderation and replacing it with abstinence. The other change is the grains food group has now fallen from its lead role, being replaced by vegetables. MyPlate does not indicate serving numbers or sizes. However, this graphic is backed up by a website that offers all this detailed nutritional information and more. The graphic itself does what it intended - it made nutrition easy enough for a child to understand.

As you can see, throughout the years our understanding of a healthy diet has changed. The important thing to remember is that we are constantly studying and learning what constitutes good nutrition. Keeping abreast of these findings is what families need to do to eat well and enjoy good health for a lifetime!