Navigating MyPlate: New icon designed to help people be healthier

The USDA's MyPlate is simpler than the previous MyPyramid and health professionals say it will make it easier for people to eat better.

Lisa Rice, a nutrition education assistant at the Utah County Extension Agency, says the plate makes things simpler.

“The graphic is easier to work with than the pyramid” she said of the June 2 change from MyPyramid to MyPlate. “I think it’s a great icon, pleasing to the eye and something people will remember.”

The represented food groups are vegetables, fruits, grains, protein and dairy products.

“Having the plate really shows the portions of fruits, vegetables, grains, and proteins,” said Heidi LeBlanc, director of the Food Sense program at Utah State University.

The idea of using a plate to illustrate food groups is not original with the USDA, which has provided dietary guidelines for consumers since 1916.

“It’s an effective idea that dieticians working with diabetics have used for some time,” said Melanie Jewkes, an assistant professor at Utah State University Extension.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine uses the symbol of a plate with food groups to represent its “Power Plate” guidelines. The “Portion Plate” is used by beBetter Health, an organization dedicated to worksite health. It sells an actual plate illustrated with four food groups.

In addition to the simplified icon representing five food groups, the new USDA dietary guidelines include four main areas of emphasis:

1. Balancing calories (which includes exercise)

2. Foods to increase

3. Foods to reduce

4. Healthy eating patterns in general

The fourth area of emphasis is where the plate comes in, Jewkes said.

“It makes it easier for Jane and Joe consumer to pick it up and see what they need to do to be healthy,” she said.

Past dietary guidelines encouraged consumers to reduce their intake of sodium. The current guidelines put a number on how much is recommended.

“They’ve made it easier to track ourselves if we’re really trying to,” Jewkes said.