Here’s How Americans Are Failing to Meet Dietary Guidelines

The new dietary guidelines released by the federal government on Thursday aren’t very new at all—in fact, one of the criticisms is that they don’t go far enough in encouraging Americans to change how they eat, particularly in light of the twin epidemics of heart disease and type-2 diabetes.

In describing the guidelines to reporters, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell noted, “Americans will be familiar with the majority of our findings.”

But Americans may not be so familiar with the guidelines—or if they are, they appear not to be following them, according to a nutrition survey from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which co-authored the 2015 guidelines with the HHS.

The majority of the 19,000 people surveyed from 2007-2010 consume less fruits, vegetables and dairy than is recommended by the 2015-2020 guidelines, and eat more sodium, saturated fat and added sugars than suggested.

Scroll down to see how how Americans are eating relative to the amounts suggested by USDA and HHS for a 2,000-calorie diet:

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