The new food pyramid emphasizes individual nutritional and exercise guidelines. Unfortunately, they may be too broad for some to understand.

The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services jointly released the new MyPyramid Plan food guidance system graphic in mid-April. The pyramid, which now goes from top to bottom, is a graphic representation of the updated dietary and exercise guidelines released in January.

Ruth Litchfield, assistant professor of food science and human nutrition, said the new pyramid is much more individualized and very comprehensive.

A new feature on the Web site the MyPyramid Tracker provides individual guidelines based on food intake and physical activity.

“It has more specific nutrient recommendations than what we see graphically represented,” Litchfield said.

“MyPyramid tracker is a more individualized tool to go in and put in dietary intake. It’s a more in-depth assessment.”

Litchfield said the graphic is a crude and rough estimate and does not provide all the information needed.

She said the food groups are represented by shaded colors, but they are not represented very well because the number of servings is not given in the graphic.

Stephanie Baumert, senior in dietetics, thinks the new pyramid is better for people as a whole because it tailors to their individual needs.

“If you can type in your activity level and age, it tailors to what you yourself need,” Baumert said. “The new pyramid will apply to me better.”

Kristi Biloff, a dietetic technician at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Milwaukee, said the old pyramid was too restrictive. She said the USDA and Health and Human Services made the new pyramid really broad because they realized one size does not fit all. She said the changes may make the new pyramid difficult to understand.

“It’s a little complicated for the average person to follow,” Biloff said. “I think it’s too complicated for someone with no background.”

Some important changes to the pyramid include the addition of trans fat guidelines and the recommendation of increasing milk intake by one cup a day.

Litchfield said this is not because the dairy council has a three-a-day campaign right now, but because milk contains four important nutrients of concern in the American diet.

The new pyramid also emphasizes that half the grains consumed should be whole grains.

Biloff said a drawback of the recommended grain consumption is that it’s listed in ounces, and most people do not know the exact measurement of an ounce.

Litchfield said she thinks the main criticism of the new pyramid is how difficult it may be for some people to get this information if they do not have the Internet or do not know how to use it. She said they need to make printed materials.

“There’s too much information on the Web site and not a lot available in print or other forms,” Litchfield said. “If we can work through into other forms, we can step ahead.”

The new pyramid is available online at www.mypyramid.gov.