The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), announced today that the first meeting of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) will be held on June 13, 2013 from 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. E.D.T. and June 14, 2013 from 8:30 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. E.D.T. at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD. The meeting is open to the public and will be webcast, but registration by June 10 is required.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (the Guidelines) is published every five years. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at HHS is the lead entity in developing the 2015 edition, and will work jointly with USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion in Committee in the process. This will be the 8th edition of the Guidelines. The DGAC will be composed of experts jointly appointed by the Secretaries of HHS and USDA.
The Guidelines provide science-based diet recommendations for Americans ages 2 years and over. It also is the baseline for USDA’s nutrition education programs, as well as for meal standards in the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the currently proposed competitive food rule. It is also worth noting that the President’s 2014 budget request includes a $2 million proposal for USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion to complete Phase I of developing unified, Federal dietary guidance for infants and very young children from birth to 2 years of age. If approved, the new edition of the Guidelines could for the first time provide information for this additional group.
The meeting on June 13-14 is the first of five expected meetings. The agenda for this meeting includes the introduction of the members of the DGAC; a discussion of the respective roles of HHS and USDA; how the Guidelines are used in public policy; and potential topics for the 2015 Guidelines.
While specific dates for future meetings have not yet been announced, over the next year the DGAC is expected to review current scientific evidence and hold additional public meetings. In the fall/winter period of 2014, the DGAC is to issues its report to the Secretaries of HHS and USDA. That report will subsequently be made available for public comment. By the summer of 2015, HHS and USDA are to consider the public comments and prepare the Guidelines policy document. The new edition of the Guidelines is then expected to be jointly published by HHS and USDA in the fall of 2015.
