US replaces food pyramid with 'healthy plate'

The US government on Thursday ditched its two-decade old pyramid model for healthy eating and introduced a new plate symbol half-filled with fruits and vegetables to urge better eating habits. The colourful design, called MyPlate, was unveiled by First Lady Michelle Obama and the secretary of the US Department of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack.
"When mom or dad comes home from a long day of work, we're already asked to be a chef, a referee, a cleaning crew. So it's tough to be a nutritionist, too," said Obama, who is a mother of two daughters, Sasha and Malia. The plate is sectioned into four parts, with fruits and vegetables making up one half and grains and proteins filling the other half. A dairy drink is included alongside.
"Enjoy your food, but eat less," the USDA said, urging people to "avoid oversized portions," choose fat-free or low-fat milk and "make at least half your grains whole grains." The graphic replaces the food pyramid, released in 1992, which showed that fats and oils were located at the upper and should be used sparingly, while whole grains made up the base of the diet with six to 11 servings daily.