Pyramid or Diagram? Whole Milk or Low-Fat? Dietitians Assess the Impact of New Dietary Guidelines

By AJ Muonagolu

Photography By AJ Muonagolu

Reporting Texas

 

Weeks after the federal government announced new dietary guidelines, Texas schools and food assistance programs are studying how the changes might affect their services.School districts like Austin’s are waiting to see how the new guidelines will shape their programs – especially when it comes to costs and federal reimbursement rates for student meals.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture in January released what it hailed as the biggest overhaul of dietary guidelines in 25 years. The guidelines provide advice for better personal eating habits, and they influence menus in schools and government-supported programs. Authors of the new guidelines say they will correct nutritional deficits in Americans’ diets and improper eating habits.

“I would like to see the administration put its back into implementing the policy so that we’re feeding people properly,” said J. Thomas Brenna, University of Texas professor of chemistry and nutritional sciences.

Schools and Public Institutions Await Effects 

Public institutions like the Austin Independent School District and Texas WIC, the state-administered supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, must follow USDA guidelines when forming school lunch meals or the WIC shopping guide.

The Austin school district plans no changes during the remainder of the 2025-26 school year as the district awaits guidance on how the dietary guidelines will affect federal food programs, Austin school district dietician Rachel Dunn said in a written statement..

The federal food programs in Austin schools include the School Breakfast Program and  National School Lunch Program for reduced-cost or free student meals, Child and Adult Care Feeding Program for after-school meals and  Seamless Summer Option  during summer months.

Although President Donald Trump signed a bill reversing a restriction on whole milk in schools, Austin will continue to offer low-fat and reduced fat milk for the remainder of the academic year as it considers putting whole milk on the menu.

Austin school officials said they hope to see an increase in their reimbursement rates as they await USDA guidance.

Texas WIC also has not received USDA guidance based on its guidelines, said James Rivera, spokesman for the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.  This means the approved food list – brands and food products people can buy with WIC benefits –  and the current shopping guide remain unchanged.

While Texas WIC  is only responsible for the acceptable brands for those who qualify,  the USDA is responsible for deciding on acceptable foods and food groups.

Other institutions subject to change in Texas are SNAP, also known as food stamps, the Emergency Food Assistance program and military meals for soldiers based in the state.

A Diagram Model Replaces the Typical Pyramid 

In addition to the USDA’s recommendations, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued new Dietary Guidelines for America in the form of a revised food pyramid.

With proteins, dairy and produce at the top, the new dietary guidelines recommend adding more protein and eating less processed foods and grains that include added sugars than the guide it replaces.

The food pyramid concept harkens back to the USDA’s  1992 and 2011 guidelines that used a pyramid with meats on the bottom. Dieticians see other differences.

“I don’t see this as the same as the other pyramids because I never liked the pyramid anyway,” Brenna said. “When they originally introduced it, they were sort of saying they were only doing it from the perspective of the amounts that people should be consuming.”

Brenna, who served as a scientific review author for the Scientific Foundation for the Dietary Guidelines For Americans, prefers to think of diet recommendations as a three-part phase diagram in chemistry — a diagram that shows how three systems interact in one system.  The diagram depicts three components of what is depicted as a healthy diet in the nutritional system.

“Maybe you’re closer to the protein corner,” Brenna said. “You get older and you don’t need to be growing anything, you’re already full grown and you move a little bit towards the fruits and vegetables part.”

By thinking of it as a diagram, individuals can evaluate where they currently are like a point on a graph and adjust their nutrition to fit their needs.

Not all dieticians agree that the new food diagram is the best for teaching individual nutrition.

“I mean, it’s an interesting perspective and I like that perspective,” said Carey Shore, a registered and licensed dietitian in the U.S. and Canada. “But it’s not teaching people how to eat.”

Outside of the U.S., Canada and other countries still use diagrams similar to MyPlate – the 2011 nutrition diagram released by First Lady Michelle Obama  to show food variety and portion sizes.

“So they (Canada) stayed with MyPlate. Teaching people the serving sizes and I love what they did,” Shore said. “And then they’re not shying away from high protein, but you’ll see, like, there’s a lot of plant-based protein in there.”

The new USDA guidelines double the recommended amount of animal protein, which some dieticians have concerns about. Increasing animal-based proteins can lead to fat buildup and diabetes. Sodium intake is also a concern as double protein intake through animal meat would make it difficult to maintain under the USDA’s recommended 10%.

While he says going between 10% and 20% total sodium intake is fine in a healthy diet, Brenna recommends approaching eating everything in moderation and adjusting based on specific characteristics such as age and personal health recommendations from a physician and nutritionist.

While public institutions will work on the ground work on shaping their food guidelines, individuals should take these broad recommendations with a grain of salt.

“Public health recommendations help give you some idea of what our current science is at with nutrition,” Shore said. “They don’t necessarily help people take that knowledge, and figure out how it’s going to make it work for them.”