Nutrition: The Healthy Eating Plate

Nutrition: The Healthy Eating Plate follows the development of nutritional graphics throughout the last decade, from the USDA’s MyPyramid and MyPlate to Harvard Medical School’s The Healthy Eating Plate. These graphics have been used as educational tools for both children and adults. However, the diagrams have been incredibly present in elementary and secondary schools across the country as nutritional guidelines for children. As the graphics and guidelines regarding nutrition have developed and differed over the years, statistics on the health of children have evolved as well, such as childhood obesity rates, sugar and sodium levels, and early-onset health complications. This presentation aims to explain the correlation between changes in nutritional diagrams and the improvement of children’s health statistics. The promotion of nutrition in schools by political figures in the last decade, such as Michelle Obama and her promotion of healthier school lunches, are also included as supporting material. This abstract draws on information found in the public health tool Healthy People 2030 and perspectives by Matthew Chrisman, PhD, and includes a variety of visual elements to demonstrate the development of nutritional diagrams in the last ten years