Adolescent Nutrition 2
Tuesday, November 8, 2005

Dr. Ken Davis continues his series on adolescent nutrition by discussing the Food Guide Pyramid in today’s 60 Second Housecall.

The Food Guide Pyramid was designed by the US Department of Agriculture to promote healthy nutrition in children over 2 years of age. The main emphasis of the Food Guide Pyramid is on the five major food groups, all of which are required for good health.

At the base of the Food Guide Pyramid are breads, cereals, rice, and pasta - all foods from grains. You need six to eleven servings of these foods each day.

The second level includes vegetables (3-5 servings) and fruits (2-4 servings).

The third level includes two groups of foods that come mostly from animals: milk, yogurt, and cheese (2-3 servings); and meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, and nuts (2-3 servings). These foods are important for protein, calcium, iron and zinc.

The small tip of the Pyramid shows fats, oils, and sweets. These are foods such as salad dressings and oils, cream, butter, margarine, sugars, soft drinks, candies and sweet desserts. These foods provide calories and little else nutritionally. Most people should use them sparingly.

For North Mississippi Medical Center, I’m Dr. Ken Davis.