Action for Water in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
As the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee (DGAC) nears the completion of its scientific review, health and nutrition advocates are pushing for a key addition: drinking water.
DGAC will also soon complete their report for the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS), the two agencies responsible for developing the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The entire process, including the DGAC’s activities, follows a prescribed order. That process includes public comment periods that are chances for the public to weigh in – and over 8,000 individuals and organizations have done so to date! This month, health and nutrition advocates, as well as other stakeholders, submitted comments to the DGAC urging them to include detailed and specific recommendations about drinking water in their forthcoming report.
The comments also highlighted the value of adding a symbol for water to MyPlate. The National Drinking Water Alliance led the way on one such comment. Read the comment to learn more and to see the many organizational and individual stakeholders who endorsed it.
The DGAC comment period is now closed. There will be a seventh and final open DGAC meeting on October 21-22, 2024. Register here to attend the open meeting virtually.
In spring 2024, 60 members of the House and Senate sent bi-partisan letters to Secretary Vilsack (USDA) and Secretary Becerra (HHS), letting them know that they would like to see the agencies add a symbol for water to MyPlate, the U.S. dietary guidance graphic. Read the House letter and see all the signatures.
Next steps: The DGAC will release their report publicly and USDA and HHS will use it to inform their development of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. There will be another public comment period after the DGAC report is made public and this will be an important time to provide input to the agencies about the Guidelines and MyPlate.
FYI: To read comments submitted on the subject of “water” click here.
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