The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released on December 29. Jointly published by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) every five years, the guidelines provide science-based recommendations designed to foster healthy dietary patterns for Americans of all ages – from birth through older adults.
The four overarching guidelines, which encourage Americans to “Make Every Bite Count” are:
- Following a healthy dietary pattern at every life stage.
- Customizing and enjoying nutrient-dense food and beverage choices to reflect personal preferences, cultural traditions, and budgetary considerations.
- Focusing on meeting food group needs with nutrient-dense foods and beverages from five food groups – vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and fortified soy alternatives, and proteins – and staying within calorie limits.
- Limiting foods and beverages higher in added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium, and limiting alcoholic beverages.
As it relates to chicken – it’s abundantly clear that chicken is a lean protein food that can help Americans meet the new dietary guidelines across all life stages. The guidelines include 12 overall mentions of chicken outside of the “poultry” category. In fact, of all the imagery featured in the final report, imagery of chicken is included 15 times throughout the 164 page report. Poultry, of which chicken is categorized as, is mentioned 57 times in the report.
Chicken is featured in the figure, “Making Nutrient-Dense Choices: One Meal At a Time” on page 38, as an example of a lean protein to include in meals that support small shifts to more nutrient-dense choices that significantly improve the nutritional profile of meals for all Americans.
In the recommendations, chicken breast is specifically called out as an example of a lean protein food that can support the guidelines across the life span: “Most intake of meats and poultry should be from fresh, frozen, or canned, and in lean forms (e.g., chicken breast…)
For the first time ever, recommendations for birth-24 months were provided. The 2020 Dietary Guidelines recommended protein foods, which includes poultry (e.g. chicken), as an important first food for young Americans (0-2 years old) as they can be sources of iron, zinc, protein, choline, and long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.
For the key guideline of, “Follow a healthy dietary pattern at every life stage,” from infancy, toddlerhood, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, pregnancy, lactation, and older adulthood — poultry (e.g. chicken) is included in 2 of the 3 healthy dietary patterns included in the guidelines. This includes a Healthy U.S.-Style Dietary Pattern and a Healthy Mediterranean-Style Dietary Pattern.
For the key guideline of, “Focus on meeting food group needs with nutrient-dense foods and beverages, and stay within calorie limits,” lean cuts of meat (e.g. chicken breast) — are nutrient-dense foods that provides vitamins, minerals, and other health-promoting components to all life stages.
