Information for Health Care Professionals

Current Materials - MyPlate

Getting Started with MyPlate — Begin here to learn about the new icon and website.

Happy and Healthy Celebrations — Encourage those at parties and gatherings to be physically active and to choose foods for taste and health.

Recipes, Recipes, and More Recipes — Recipes from the First Lady's Let's Move! campaign, recipes from EatingWell magazine, and recipes from the Recipes for Healthy Kids Challenge.

MyPlate Community Toolkit — USDA and First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative developed a toolkit for communities to get involved in reversing the trend of childhood obesity.

The Eat Healthy Be Active Community Workshop Series builds on the concepts of the Dietary Guidelines by providing detailed tips on how to put recommended behaviors into practice. The workshops are designed to move participants from the “thinking” phase to taking desired health actions.

MyPlate on Food Labels — Guidance on use of USDA's MyPlate and statements about amounts of food groups contributed by foods on food product labels

MyPlate Graphics Standards — Style guide and conditions of use for the icon

Using MyPlate Along with MyPyramid — If you've been wondering how to teach nutrition using MyPlate instead of or in addition to MyPyramid, this is the tip sheet for you.

A Brief History of USDA Food Guides — For almost 100 years, USDA has been providing food guidance to American consumers.

Dietary Guidelines Communications Message Calendar, 2013-2015 — The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans are the foundation for Federal dietary guidance promotion and education efforts aimed at improving America's health and reversing obesity and chronic diet-related diseases.

Selected messages — Seven key consumer messages from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Executive Summary of Formative Research — This summarizes the development of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans consumer messages and MyPlate.

Dietary Guidelines 2010 Consumer Brochure* — Let's Eat for the Health of It... Build a healthy plate. Cut back on foods high in solid fats, added sugars, and salt. Eat the right amount of calories for you. Be physically active your way.

Sample menus at 2000 calorie level — Current with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, these menus give an example of how all of the recommendations for food group and nutrient intake can be integrated into a weekly menu.

Daily Food Plans for individuals are based on their sex, age, height, weight, and physical activity level. PDFs of all Daily Food Plans and their associated Worksheets are available to download.

Click here for other press, print, and digital materials related to MyPlate and the SuperTracker.

Archived Materials - Development of MyPyramid

A multiyear, multiple component research process was undertaken to revise the original Food Guide Pyramid and to develop the MyPyramid Food Guidance System. This research has been documented in a number of articles published as a supplement to the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior in November/December 2006. With the permission of the Journal and the Society for Nutrition Education, you can access and print these articles from this website. If you would like a free copy of this journal issue, please contact us at Support@cnpp.usda.gov.

MyPyramid — USDA's New Food Guidance System peer-to-peer PowerPoint presentation. This 61-slide presentation was developed for you and your colleagues to educate others within the nutrition field. It details the background and development of MyPyramid and is organized into three sections: Development of the MyPyramid food intake patterns, development of MyPyramid consumer messages and materials, and using MyPyramid materials. [PowerPoint Note: This is a large file (11MB)]

Education framework that provides key concepts of the MyPyramid food guidance system. These key concepts are not intended as direct consumer messages, but rather as a framework of ideas from which professionals can develop consumer messages and materials. [PDF]

MyPyramid Food Intake Patterns that identify what and how much food an individual should eat for health. The amounts to eat are based on a person's age, sex, and activity level. [PDF]

Food Intake Pattern Calorie Levels that identify the calorie level assigned to an individual in the MyPyramid Plan, based on their sex, age, and activity level. [PDF]

Also, you can download/print the Calorie Results and Food Tracking Worksheets for any or all of the 12 calorie levels.   Sample menu at 2000 calorie level ? Current with the 2005 [not 2010] Dietary Guidelines for Americans, these menus give an example of how all of the recommendations for food group and nutrient intake can be integrated into a weekly menu. [PDF] [TXT]

Your Personal Path to Health: Steps to a Healthier You! is a collaborative effort between USDA and its partners. This consumer brochure provides tips and healthful advice to use MyPyramid to "start you down your path to good health." [PDF]