Panel Named to Work on New Dietary Guidelines

WASHINGTON — Twenty nationally recognized public health and nutrition experts have been tapped by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services to help draft the nation’s revised dietary guidelines.

The first meeting of the new Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee will be Feb. 9-10, with the new guidelines due by 2025.

In between, the committee members will be tasked with reviewing the current body of nutrition science and developing a report for the departments to consider, along with public comment and agency input, as they develop the dietary guidelines for Americans to follow into the next decade.

The Dietary Guidelines provide advice on dietary patterns to help meet nutrient needs, promote health and prevent disease. 

It provides a customizable framework for healthy eating that can be tailored and adapted to meet personal preferences, cultural traditions and budgetary considerations.  

Once completed, the HHS and USDA will release the updated Dietary Guidelines and work with federal, state and local partners to implement the new edition.

So who are the members of the new panel? They are:

• Dr. Steven Abrams, University of Texas at Austin.
• Cheryl Anderson, University of California, San Diego.
• Aline Andres, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
• Sarah Booth, Tufts University.
• Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
• Heather Eicher-Miller, Purdue University.
• Teresa Fung, Simmons University.
• Edward Giovannucci, Harvard University.
• Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan, Oklahoma State University.
• Cristina Palacios, Florida International University.
• Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, Harvard University.
• Christopher Taylor, The Ohio State University.
• Andrea Deierlein, New York University.
• Jennifer Orlet Fisher, Temple University.
• Christopher Gardner, Stanford University.
• Deanna Hoelscher, University of Texas at Austin.
• Angela Odoms-Young, Cornell University.
• Hollie Raynor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
• Sameera Talegawkar, The George Washington University.
• Deirdre Tobias, Harvard University.

The committee will review the scientific evidence on nutrition and public health across all life stages and will use a health equity lens to ensure socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity and culture are considered to the greatest extent possible as reflected in the scientific literature and data.

The departments also announced that the public comment period for this effort opened on Jan. 19, and will remain open throughout the committee’s work.

Individuals interested in submitting comments electronically can do so here.  Anyone having trouble accessing the link, you can also search Regulations.gov with OASH-2022-0021, the docket number for this Federal Register notice.  

To submit written/paper submissions, mail/courier to Janet M. de Jesus, MS, RD, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), HHS; 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 420; Rockville, MD 20852.

Dan can be reached at dan@thewellnews.com and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue