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The dietary pyramid

Department of Clinical Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland, E-mail: mgibney{at}tcd.ie

Dear Sir:

The nutrition world should wake up to the revolutionary statement made by Willett (1) in a recent letter to the Editor: "if potatoes are to be included in the dietary pyramid, the appropriate place appears to be in the apex along with sweets, to be eaten only sparingly." The potato is a staple in many countries; here in Ireland especially, where the 150th anniversary of the Irish potato famine was just commemorated, such a statement needs careful consideration. It seems somewhat defeatist to accept that given our sedentary lifestyles, high-carbohydrate diets should be recognized as disadvantageous because of their frequent, but not constant, association with elevated plasma triacylglycerol, low plasma HDL cholesterol, and occasionally insulin resistance. These effects of high-carbohydrate diets are totally negated by moderate physical activity on the order of 30 min of accumulated brisk walking. To begin to accept that dietary guidelines be constructed to suit a sedentary and overweight culture is absolutely revolutionary and cannot be ignored. Nothing in public health nutrition is more urgent than the resolution of this matter. Without prejudice to the outcome of a high-level consultation on this issue, which I hope will be fostered immediately by some august and independent body, it is worth noting that every study of changes in proxies for physical inactivity (eg, number of cars per household or number of hours spent watching television) has shown attendant changes in the prevalence of obesity (2). The notion that the dietary guidelines be constructed to defend the automobile, the television, the computer game, and the town planning industry, while at the same time relegating the potato and presumably pasta, rice, and bread to the same level of the food pyramid as sweets, is so revolutionary that it is either daft or brilliant. Given the distinguished provenance of this wisdom, it is truly urgent that nutritionists resolve this issue now.

REFERENCES

1. Willett W. Reply to GB Forbes. Am J Clin Nutr 1999;69:573 (letter).[Free Full Text]
2. World Health Organization. Report of a WHO consultation on obesity. Geneva: WHO, 1998.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. E Hardman High-carbohydrate diets, physical activity, and plasma lipoprotein lipids Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, October 1, 2000; 72(4): 1061 - 1061. [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gibney, M. J Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gibney, M. J Agricola Articles by Gibney, M. J