Release No. 0126.99

Backgrounder
The Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children

To help improve the diets of young children two to six years old, USDA has developed the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children. This "new" Pyramid is an adaptation of the original Food Guide Pyramid, released in 1992, to simplify the educational messages and focus on young children's food preferences and nutritional requirements. 

Young children have unique food patterns and needs in comparison to older children and adults. Also, many young children are not eating healthful diets, and nutritionists know that early food experiences are crucial to food preferences and patterns throughout life. 

Changes Made

The graphic and messages in the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children have been made easier to understand and more appropriate for this audience of two- to six-year-old children, their parents, and their caregivers. The graphic shows foods that are commonly eaten by young children, drawn in a realistic style, and shown in single serving sizes when possible. The food group names have been shortened to simplify them, and the number of servings recommended is a single number rather than a range. 

The key message in the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children is that eating a variety of foods is healthy. The Pyramid is surrounded with illustrations of children engaged in active pursuits, to show the importance of physical activity.

Development

The Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children is based on actual food patterns of young children. The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, part of USDA's Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, analyzed the diets of young children and adapted existing food guidance recommendations to meet their specific needs. The development of the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children and supporting educational material was a direct result of this research. 

Center staff examined food choices and typical portion sizes reported for young children in national food consumption surveys. They determined that the nutrients in these foods, if eaten in amounts recommended by the original Food Guide Pyramid, would meet children's nutritional needs. Since Pyramid food groups and numbers of servings resulted in a nutritionally adequate diet for young children, the Pyramid was used as the basis for a new graphic. The actual foods depicted in the new graphic were selected from foods eaten most often by children, and, in several cases, foods that children need to eat more often.

The "Tips for Using the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children 2 to 6 Years Old" booklet is based on the needs for food and nutrition information identified by parents and caregivers of young children. Educational messages and prototype materials for the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children were tested with parents and caregivers in two rounds of focus groups. These groups were held in several different geographic regions of the United States The information that was gathered from focus group participants helped to determine the messages included in the materials and also the types of materials developed.

What is included in the booklet?

The booklet "Tips for Using the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children 2 to 6 Years Old" contains a wealth of information and advice for parents and care givers, including: 

* Tips for encouraging healthful eating
* Basic information about the Food Guide Pyramid
* "Child-size" serving information
* List of foods in each group to encourage young children to eat a variety of different foods
* Suggested kitchen activities for parents to do with their young children
* Snack ideas
* Meal planning ideas
* Chart to track foods eaten over several days
* "Hands-on" food activity for home or child care centers

What do children eat?

The foods that 2- to 6-year-old children eat most often are somewhat different from foods eaten by older children and adults. For example, more of their meat group servings come from ground beef and luncheon meats, and less from fish. Young children are more likely than adults to eat ready-to-eat cereals. Also, in comparison to older children and adults, young children are less likely to eat lettuce salads and more likely to eat cooked green beans. They are also more likely to drink fruit juice than to eat whole fruit. 

Overall, most young children are not consuming the recommended number of servings from the vegetable, fruit, grain, and meat groups. For example, 2- to 6-year-old children eat only about 1 « servings per day of vegetables, in comparison to the recommendation that they eat 3 servings a day. Older children and adults also fail to eat the recommended number of servings of vegetables, eating only about 21/2 of their recommended 3 to 5 servings per day. 

Where to find Materials

The graphic and booklet may be downloaded from the home page of the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion on the World Wide Web. The URL for the home page is http://www.usda.gov/cnpp . Copies may also be ordered from the Government Printing Office.

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