Committee Appointment
Beginning with the 1985 edition, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) have appointed a Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) of prominent experts in nutrition and health to assist in the preparation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This Committee has been an effective mechanism to obtain a competent review of the science, recommendations from experts, and broad public acceptance of the Dietary Guidelines. The 2005 DGAC was established for the single, time-limited task of reviewing the 2000 edition of Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans and determining if, on the basis of current scientific and medical knowledge, revision was warranted. The Committee determined that a revision was warranted and developed nutrition and health recommendations in this report to the Secretaries of HHS and USDA. The Committee was dissolved upon delivery of this report.
Charge to the 2005 DGAC
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans provides science-based eating and physical activity advice for healthy Americans over age 2 years. The DGAC shall advise the Secretaries of HHS and USDA whether revisions to the 2000 edition of Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans are warranted on the basis of the preponderance of the scientific and medical knowledge currently available.
The Committee, whose duties are solely advisory and time-limited, will perform the following functions:
- If the Committee decides that no changes are necessary, it will so inform the Secretaries of the Departments. This action will terminate the DGAC.
- If the Committee decides that changes are warranted on the basis of the preponderance of the scientific and medical knowledge, the Committee will determine what issues for change need to be addressed.
- The focus of the Committee should be on the review of the new scientific evidence.
- The Committee shall make and submit its technical recommendations and the rationale for these recommendations in a report to the Secretaries. The Committee's focus should be its recommendations and the supporting science rather than translating the recommendations into a communication document.
- Upon the submittal of the Committee's recommendations, the DGAC will be terminated.
The Committee Process
The Committee served without pay and worked under the regulations of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. It held public meetings, announced in the Federal Register, in Washington, DC, in September 2003 and in January, March, May, and August 2004. Meeting summaries are available at www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines.
To promote a fresh examination of the science base for dietary guidance, the content areas to be addressed differed somewhat from the topics of the 10 guidelines in the 2000 Dietary Guidelines. In particular, the workload was divided and managed by subcommittees on nutrient adequacy, carbohydrates, fats, fluid and electrolytes, energy, ethanol, and food safety. Midway through the effort, a macronutrient subcommittee was appointed to address some crosscutting topics, and a subcommittee was formed to address fruits and vegetables, grains, milk, and milk products. To aid in coordination and communication, a lead Committee member was appointed for each subcommittee, but the conclusions reached reflected the consensus of the entire group. One or more designated staff members from HHS or USDA assisted each subcommittee.
The Science Review Subcommittee was formed to help maintain consistent standards for the reviews across subcommittees. The Subcommittee also addressed quality standards for the entire process, including consideration of the format of the report to the Secretaries, integration of the various subcommittees' work into a cohesive document, and meeting plans.
The subcommittees communicated by conference call, e-mail, and face-to-face meetings. Each subcommittee was responsible for presenting the basis for its conclusions and recommendations to the full Committee, responding to questions, and making changes if indicated. To gain perspectives for interpreting the science, some subcommittees invited experts to respond to specific questions during conference calls. The full Committee heard presentations from 12 invited experts, who addressed questions posed by the Committee in advance and responded to additional questions during the meeting. The conclusions in this report reflect the consensus of the entire Committee.
Preparation of Conclusive Statements
For each research question, subcommittees prepared a brief document that included a conclusion that specifically addressed the research question, a list of key sources, and a summary of key studies and findings. The subcommittee presented draft summary statements to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) for consideration. Members of the Committee who were not members of the subcommittee were also assigned to review the statements and provide in-depth critical review. For especially controversial topics, the entire Committee examined the key published evidence on which a conclusion was based. At the May and August meetings, the whole Committee voted on the wording of each conclusion.