Technical Research for the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children

This article describes the technical research for the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children. Composites for food groups and subgroups were developed using food intake data for children 2 to 6 years old. Data were from the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals 1989-91. The composites were used in creating 1,300- and 1,600-calorie Food Guide Pyramid diet patterns. For children 4 to 6 years old, the 1,600-calorie pattern met all nutrient requirements, except for vitamin E. The 1,300-calorie pattern provided the RDA for most nutrients for 2- to 3-year-olds and 4- to 6-year-olds. The major exceptions were iron and zinc for both age groups and copper and vitamin E for the 4- to 6-year-olds. When breakfast cereals fortified with iron and zinc were used in the grain composites, the patterns provided recommended levels of these nutrients. Children could improve their diet by making different food choices, in particular, by eating more dark-green and deep-yellow vegetables; legumes; whole grains; and lean meat, poultry, or fish.
The Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children ages 2 to 6 years is a nutrition education tool to help teach healthful eating concepts to young children. The technical research conducted [...]