The Department of Family and Consumer Science and Office of Extended Campus and Continuing Education presented a nutrition symposium from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday in the Watkins Auditorium.

The first presentation titled “A Comparison of Old and New Guidelines for Better Health” was presented by Lori Littleton, director of Dietetic Internship Program and assistant professor of Nutrition and Food Systems Management at 8:30 a.m.

Professor Littleton said with an increase in diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, these conditions that have been considered “adult conditions” have been found more frequently among children. This is when The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) began to create new dietary guidelines.

The food guide pyramid is a pyramid-shaped graph that shows how much food we should eat from six food categories. The new food guide pyramid has 12 different pyramids. We should choose one depending on how many calories we need, and how much activity we are in. Since the new dietary guidelines emphasize the importance of physical activity, the new food guide pyramid has steps beside the pyramid to remind us to be active everyday. Professor Littleton explained that orange in the pyramid means grains, green for vegetables, red for fruits, yellow for oils, blue for milk products, and purple for protein.

“The overweight and obesity rates are the reason that the new dietary guidelines emphasize the need to reduce calories, control weight, and to increase exercise,” Professor Littleton said.

“New dietary guidelines offer important advice on healthy eating, but this information must be explained or it will likely do not good,” Professor Littleton said. As the next thing that needs to be done, Professor Littleton said the dietetic professional will be needed to translate the recommendations made in new dietary guidelines for Americans.

The new pyramid is actually a set of several pyramids that tailor to different lifestyles and needs.