USDA food consumption research: parade of survey greats.

This paper recognizes some of the scientists who conducted food consumption surveys and related methodology research for USDA over the past century. Information presented is drawn from published documents, interviews with scientists, and personal experiences of the author. "Survey greats" are identified for each of six time periods starting with W.O. Atwater in the period prior to 1900. Their activities are traced along several lines: The purposes and populations for which they sought food consumption information; the techniques they used to select survey participants and to collect and analyze data; the nature of the country's food supplies; and the understanding, at the time, of the nutritional composition of foods and of what constituted a good diet. Over the past century many creative and dedicated food consumption researchers have advanced their science to meet the demands for dietary information, taking advantage of new technologies and statistical procedures.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 1990 edition.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are the federal statement of dietary guidance policy. The small bulletin presenting the guidelines contains practical advice for healthy Americans about what constitutes a healthful diet and how such a diet is important to health. The guidelines bulletin was first published in 1980 and revised slightly in 1985. The third edition (1990) reflects new research on diet and health relationships and on the utility of the guidelines to the public. The 1990 guidelines are: Eat a variety of foods; maintain healthy weight; choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol; choose a diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits, and grain products; use sugars only in moderation; use salt and sodium only in moderation; and if you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation.

Some diets that meet the Dietary Goals for the United States.

Few people in the United States have diets with proportions of complex carbohydrate as high and proportions of protein, fat, and sugar as low as proposed in the second edition of the Dietary Goals for the United States by the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs. Sample diets, including low-calorie diets for adults, were planned to meet the Recommended Dietary Allowances and the Dietary Goals. Two possible "first steps" in modifying diets to meet the Goals explored the use of: (a) Specified ranges rather than specific Goals and (b) some but not all of the Goals.