SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Dairy farmers are invited to join American Dairy Association North East’s health professional team as they host a one-hour webinar about dairy’s role in the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) on January 28, at noon, presented by dairy advocate and registered dietitian Toby Amidor.
Click here to register for the free webinar.
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and of Health and Human Services published the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and updated the MyPlate website on December 29, 2020.
The DGA is the cornerstone of official guidance on dietary recommendations for federal food assistance programs, including those followed by schools and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). These federal programs distribute:
- 10.7 billion pounds of milk
- 684 million pounds of cheese
- 662 million pounds of yogurt and other dairy foods
“It’s good for dairy farmers to know that the DGA is grounded in sound science,” said Dr. Katie Brown, Senior Vice President of Scientific Affairs and Outreach for National Dairy Council. “Thanks to dairy farmers checkoff investment in nutrition research, the outcome for dairy’s role in nutrition and health is once again reaffirmed in the latest guidelines.”
Dr. Brown added, “That’s good news for us because we know dairy farmers’ milk will continue to flow where people depend on it while providing consumers across the entire lifespan with a reinforced stamp of approval for dairy’s goodness.”
Key dairy highlights include:
- The DGA continues to classify dairy as its own food group and recommend three servings of dairy foods as core to healthy dietary patterns to achieve/maintain good health and reduce risk of chronic disease throughout life.
- Dairy is now recommended in complementary feeding across the lifespan – at 6-12 months (reduced-fat plain yogurts and reduced-fat cheese) and 12-23 months (whole milk, reduced-fat plain yogurts and reduced-fat cheese)
○ For the first time, the 2020-2025 DGA provides recommendations for pregnancy and lactation and from birth to 23 months.
- While low-fat and fat-free dairy continue to be the recommendation for people to choose most often, the DGA did not recommend a reduction in saturated fat, keeping it at 10% of total daily calories (leaving room for whole milk dairy options).
- The DGA is a win for sound science, including the dairy checkoff’s longstanding investment in peer-reviewed science on the role of dairy in nutrition, health and wellness.
ADA North East’s co-sponsors for the webinar include New Jersey Academy of Pediatrics, New Jersey Academy of Nutrition and Dietitians, and National Medical Association – Region II.
Click here to register for the free webinar.
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About American Dairy Association North East
American Dairy Association North East (ADA North East) is the dairy farmer-funded organization funded by participating dairy farmer’s checkoff investment to build demand and sales for milk and dairy foods throughout the local region. Representing more than 10,000 dairy farm families in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and northern Virginia, ADA North East develops and implements local programs to drive milk and dairy sales at retail outlets and in schools. The organization also conducts consumer education about dairy through events, traditional and social media, and in collaboration with health professionals through National Dairy Council®. ADA North East works closely with Dairy Management Inc.™, the national dairy checkoff organization, to support nutrition research, national partnerships and developing export markets for dairy to bring a fully integrated promotion program to the region. For more information, visit www.AmericanDairy.com.
