evelopment of Food Intake Patterns for the MyPyramid ood Guidance System

ietary patterns describe the types and amounts of food to onsume. Providing information about dietary patterns that ill meet current recommendations for nutritional health has een a major focus of the United States Department of Agriulture’s (USDA) food guidance to consumers over the past entury. USDA has developed a number of different food uides to identify patterns of eating that would meet known utrient needs and balance intake from various food groups. s noted by Welsh et al, “A food guide . . . provides a onceptual framework for selecting the kinds and amounts of