This week’s guest blogger is Ingrid Reyes-Arias, a former GPO intern and new staffer with GPO’s Library Services and Content Management area.
How often do we make plans to be “healthier”? Easier said than done, right? Luckily for us, there are plenty of Government publications that provide us with nutritional information. A good example is Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005.
The goal is to live a long healthy life and minimize the risk of chronic diseases, and we can achieve this by undertaking the recommendations that this publication provides. This is a user-friendly book that has information about adequate nutrients, weight management, physical activity, food groups, and food safety. The most difficult component of health is applying it to daily life. Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 has been able to take highly important information and make it available and easy to understand for those learning to be healthy. The first portion of the book provides information on adequate nutrients, plus a sample of the USDA Food Guide and estimated Calorie Requirements for each gender and age group, ranked by the levels of physical activity. This leads to another important aspect of weight and health management, which is regular physical activity that makes a contribution to minimizing the risk of chronic diseases. Not only is it an easy read, but the information is provided and endorsed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, so why not take this useful advice?
This publication can serve as reference for future endeavors in becoming healthy and maintaining weight. It is tailored for the average person with a desire to change his or her health habits. It also includes tables with the food sources for different vitamins and minerals. The key recommendation tables allow you to focus on the importance of each section, which can lead to successful comprehension of the specific recommendations.