In formulating the Dietary Guidelines for 2020–2025, the US Federal government rejected the advice of the expert scientific panel to set lower targets for consumption of sugar and alcoholic beverages.
[9] The efforts of the US Federal Government to establish a scientific basis for human nutrition began with Wilbur Olin Atwater,[10] who published the first dietary recommendations for Americans in 1894, notably stating that, "We live not upon what we eat, but upon what we digest.
The Dietary Guidelines have the purpose of guiding the development of Federal policies and programs related to food, nutrition, and health.
The intended audience for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are policymakers, nutrition scientists, and dieticians and other health professionals.
The Guidelines themselves are not intended to directly inform the general public, but instead to serve as an authoritative, evidence-based information source that policymakers and health professionals can use to advise Americans about making healthy choices in their daily lives so as to enjoy a healthy diet that also prevents chronic disease.
In addition to these governmental audiences, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are widely used by state and local governments, schools, commercial enterprises, community groups, the media, and the food industry to inform policy and program development intended to serve the general public.
[25] The response to the 2015–2020 guidelines was particularly contentious,[26] resulting in action by Congress mandating the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to evaluate the process used to update the DGA.
[30] There is compelling evidence that food frequency questionnaires and other methods that rely on human memory do not accurately measure dietary intake.
[32] A systematic review found that only a few studies have measured the accuracy or reliability of dietary assessment methods in schoolchildren.
[36] A Committee of the National Academies Institute of Medicine evaluated the evidence about dietary salt intake and health.
[18][41] In 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued a new "mid-course correction" report evaluating how well the USDA has followed their 2016 recommendations.
[42] The USDA has invited interested parties, including members of the general public, to participate and follow the development of the 2025–2030 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
[43] As mandated by the Agriculture Act of 2014, this next edition of the guidelines will cover the full life-span of Americans from birth, including recommendations for pregnant women, infants, and children younger than two years old.