February 19, 2016

Oral Testimony on the Process of Developing Future Editions of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Provided by Sarah Ohlhorst, MS, RD, ASN Director of Government Relations

Good morning! The American Society for Nutrition or ASN appreciates the opportunity to comment on the process of developing future editions of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. ASN is a scientific, professional society with more than 5,000 members who conduct nutrition research to help all individuals live healthier lives.

ASN supports the continued use of a strong evidence-based approach to inform the development of future editions of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) as the process evolves and expands. Ensuring the quality of the DGAs requires careful review of all high-quality studies on key topics, based on publically available, transparent standards for evidence-based evaluation. Achievement of such a high quality of evidence requires continued investment in nutrition research that promotes the health of all Americans; this peer-reviewed scientific evidence provides the fundamental basis for the DGAs. ASN continues to support the use of the Nutrition Evidence Library as a tool for validation of dietary guidance through multiple peer-reviewed sources.

ASN supports expanding the DGA process to provide unified dietary guidance across the entire lifespan. To support the inclusion of infants and children (birth to 24 months) in future editions of the DGAs, the literature review should be enhanced to include the extensive work of the government-led B-24 Project to determine the evidence base. ASN encourages the government to begin to address the research recommendations outlined in the B-24 Project reports now. The government may consider oversampling particular subpopulations, including birth to 24 months and pregnant women, in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to better inform future editions of the DGAs. The government may wish to consider additional ways to make the NHANES data collection more current and specific to continually assess the population’s health.

Additionally, ASN strongly urges the government to begin regular updates of the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) to provide current, accurate data with which to identify nutrients of public health concern and other nutrient needs to be used in the development of the DGAs.

Chronic disease prevention should continue to be a focus of future DGAs. The government may wish to consider nutritional biomarkers for chronic disease endpoints and how DRI development may begin incorporating diet-related chronic disease endpoints when developing dietary recommendations that address health and disease. However, the development of recommendations should not be hindered or delayed by the

process of discovery and validation of nutritional biomarkers for diet-related disease risk. The DGAs should expand the use of nutrient status as the basis for recommendations related to sufficiency. 

With regard to process, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) should be assigned a clear scope of work and be given the flexibility and necessary tools to address new and emerging topics of importance to dietary guidance. Consistency between the evidence-base and any areas of expanded scope should be assured. Membership on the DGAC should be expanded as the process expands to include additional nutrition-related experts, including experts on behavior change, periconception and pregnancy through 24 months of age, food science, and so on. This will also require consideration of the best approach and configuration of expertise to achieve a broader focus. For example, part of the process of the DGAs could be an overarching committee of experts to draw upon even greater expertise from the nutrition science community. Subcommittee experts, reviewers, and consultants should be selected using the same rigorous selection process as for DGAC members.

More emphasis on implementing the DGAs and moving Americans toward DGA compliance is also needed. ASN recommends that the government continue to engage collaborators to ensure the DGAs are disseminated to the public and will support improved public health outcomes. Thank you!

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