Guest Editorial

It has been a pleasure to be the guest editor for this important supplemental issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. The supplement documents the complete multiyear research process undertaken by USDA to revise the original Food Guide Pyramid and develop the MyPyramid Food Guidance System.

There is a wealth of information in the supplement. The first several articles describe the technical research that was undertaken to update USDA’s food intake patterns, so that they are current with new nutrition standards. Another paper summarizes the modeling exercises that were conducted for the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee using these food patterns, and how the results of these analyses influenced both the Guidelines and the final food intake patterns. Two research articles in the supplement detail the consumer research used to develop the new consumer messages and graphic presentation for MyPyramid. Three relevant GEMs are also included in this issue. They describe Web site and Internet-based tools that were developed to implement the MyPyramid Food Guidance System, including the formative consumer testing that was completed as part of the development process.

Having a complete description of the basis for the MyPyramid Food Guidance System in a single document provides an invaluable resource for the nutrition community. I am sure that this supplement will be a reference that nutrition educators come back to repeatedly to better understand the research foundation on which MyPyramid was built. It will certainly occupy a prominent place on my bookshelf!