U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Nutrition and Your Health:
Dietary Guidelines for Americans

U.S. Department of Agriculture
Read the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

 
About the Guidelines

Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans is published jointly every 5 years by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The Guidelines provide authoritative advice for people two years and older about how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases.  They serve as the basis for Federal food and nutrition education programs.

Development of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Current Edition of the Guidelines (May 2000)
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Development of the Dietary Guidelines is coordinated by HHS's Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and Agricultural Research Service.

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Current Edition of the Guidelines

The fifth edition of Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a joint publication of the Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, was released on May 30, 2000.  

[The Adobe® Acrobat® Reader for PDF files is a free download.]
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Ordering Information for Printed Copies

Single copies of the Guidelines and Using the Dietary Guidelines are available from the Consumer Information Center.  Order online or call 1-888-878-3256 (M-F, 9:00 am to 8:00 pm Eastern Time).

  • Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Fifth Edition (2000), 44 pages, $4.75 each, item 136L. 
  • Using the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2000), brochure, $0.50 each, item 321L.

Many other Federal publications on food and nutrition are available from the Consumer Information Center Catalog.

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Background Information

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Selected Federal Resources

HHS and USDA provide many sources of information on nutrition and health. Selected resources are listed below:

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Updated Tuesday, September 28, 2004 by ODPHP Web Support