"It has been recently speculated that the U.S. government inadvertently fostered dietary changes that contributed to our growing weight problem and diabetes prevalence..."

Caution: Government diet advice may be hazardous to your health

BY EDWARD ARCHER AND MICHAEL L. MARLOW, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 07/03/17 03:00 PM EDT

"In other words, even when past bad advice is overturned, its legacy still lives on. It has been recently speculated that the U.S. government inadvertently fostered dietary changes that contributed to our growing weight problem and diabetes prevalence through its emphasis on limiting consumption of eggs, butter, milk, and meat, while bulking up on carbohydrate-rich foods like pasta, bread, fruit and potatoes.

Bad dietary recommendations also affect the advice given by advocates of taxes, bans and psychological “nudges” on various “unhealthy” foods. Advocates rarely question whether these interventions exert the desired effects on disease, weight or any other measure of quality of life. Rather, their focus is to simply guide Americans toward the DGA goals, despite little concern about the accuracy of the dietary advice or knowledge about whether public health will improve."