The newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), overseen by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, have ignited a fierce debate by promoting a significant increase in meat and dairy consumption. The visual representation, a rejiggered food pyramid, places foods high in saturated fats like red meat and cheese above plant-based proteins, alarming public health and environmental experts.
Contradictory Messages and Public Confusion
While the guidelines' text maintains the established advice to limit saturated fat intake to below 10% of total calories, the accompanying imagery tells a different story. Dr Cheryl Anderson, a board member of the American Heart Association and professor at the University of California San Diego, expressed deep concern over this discrepancy. She noted the pyramid's visuals make steak and cheese appear "higher, larger and overall much more prominent" than nuts and other plant proteins.
"I think it will be a challenge to keep saturated fat intake within 10% of overall kilocalories. Now, that, to me, is a confusing message for the American public," Anderson stated. The guidelines were published later than the typical six-month window after receiving the advisory committee's report, which should have seen a summer release.
Chloë Waterman, a senior programme manager at Friends of the Earth, suspects the confusion stems from an attempt to appease both public health experts and Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" (Maha) movement. She also pointed out the document's brevity as a problem: "Previous iterations of the guidelines were hundreds of pages long, and these guidelines are 10 pages. So, there’s only so much clarity you can fit into 10 pages."
Environmental Toll of Increased Meat Consumption
The guidelines' push for more animal products carries severe environmental consequences, experts warn. Waterman emphasised that the US is already one of the world's highest meat-consuming nations, a habit with a "disastrous impact on the planet." Industrial animal agriculture is extremely resource-intensive, driving deforestation to grow animal feed and producing significant greenhouse gas emissions.
"Beef and lamb especially have really high methane emissions," Waterman added, noting that methane from livestock is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. She argued that shifting towards more plant-based foods would simultaneously benefit both planetary and human health, a synergy the new guidelines ignore.
School Lunches and Childhood Health at Risk
A primary concern is the potential impact on school lunch programmes, which must align with the DGA. Waterman fears that interpreting the guidelines to increase meat content could be devastating, as these meals are already "dominated by animal products." Increasing portions could easily push them over the 10% saturated fat limit.
"We’re going to see a devastating increase in diet-related chronic diseases for children," like diabetes and metabolic syndrome, Waterman predicted. This directly contradicts Kennedy's stated goal of fighting childhood obesity through his Maha initiative. "Promoting full-fat dairy and red meat, as depicted in the food pyramid, is going to have the opposite effect on childhood obesity as Kennedy intends," she concluded.
It remains unclear how much these guidelines will alter adult behaviour, though Waterman noted that past advice to eat more fruit and vegetables was often ignored. However, the new recommendations to eat more meat and dairy may prove more popular, potentially amplifying their negative effects on national health and the environment.
