HHS announces 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee members

The HHS has announced the 20 selected members of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which will inform nutritional guidelines for Americans over the next half-decade.

The committee members will review current science on nutrition topics and create a report on their independent assessment of evidence and recommendations as they develop the 10^th edition of HHS’ and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) “Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030.”

Committee members aim to simplify guideline messaging

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) are updated every 5 years and “serve as the foundation for national nutrition programs, standards, and education,” HHS said in a press release.

Among the selected committee members is Healio Primary Care Peer Perspective Board Member Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, MBA, FAAP, FACP, FAHA, FAMWA, FTOS, an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an obesity medicine physician-scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center.

Stanford told Healio that she hopes “to simplify the understanding of the guidelines for the American population.”

“We know that health literacy is something that many people struggle with regardless of their background. As such, the dietary guidelines can be difficult to navigate,” she said. “We have seen significant changes in the guidelines during the course of my lifetime. These changes often lead to confusion in the general public. It is important that we ensure simple messaging to ensure the best possible dietary health.”

Stanford said that another goal is to ensure the guidelines appeal to the diversity of the U.S. population. Individuals from underrepresented groups continue to experience disparities in the rates of both obesity and obesity-related diseases rates compared with white individuals.

“I am thankful for my selection to the committee,” Stanford said. “I think that the current experts represent different and varied viewpoints and expertise, which when harmonized will lead to an overall excellent outcome for the American people.”

Previous efforts to improve the guidelines

The process for developing the DGA has been criticized in the past, most notably in 2016 when Congress asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to review the guideline process.

NASEM released a report on the guidelines in 2017, recommending the DGA:

• redesign the process to prioritize the topics reviewed in each cycle;
• provide the public with clear explanations when topics are omitted or when only certain sections of scientific reports are accepted;
• separate roles of the guideline committee and the USDA Nutrition Evidence Library (NEL);
• ensure NEL reviews align with best practices;
• enhance food pattern modeling and range of possible diets;
• have USDA and HHS secretaries standardize methods and criteria for establishing nutrients of concern; and
• have USDA and HHS secretaries commission research for strategies and develop system approaches to the DGA.

In a recent midcourse report published in 2022, NASEM concluded that the DGA committee has made significant progress on the recommendations, but “the extent of implementation was not uniform within and across these recommendations.”

Speaking to Healio, Justin Tondt, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Penn State Health, agreed that there have been some advancements, including the establishment of a public comment period, improvements in the systematic review process and explanations for omitted material. However, he said that more work is needed to improve the guideline process, namely with food pattern modeling and the range of nutrients, ensuring external peer reviews are conducted and creating separate committees and roles.

“I would recommend doctors pay attention to the range of possible healthful diets. There are many possible healthful diets, but the guidelines have only very few included,” Tondt said.

The inaugural meeting of the new DGA committee will take place from Feb. 9 to Feb. 10.

References:

• Evaluating the process to develop the dietary guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/26406/chapter/1. Accessed Jan. 19, 2023.
• Members of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee announced. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/01/19/members-2025-dietary-guidelines-advisory-committee-announced.html. Published Jan. 19, 2023. Accessed Jan. 19, 2023.
• Redesigning the process for establishing the dietary guidelines for Americans. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/24883/chapter/1. Accessed Jan. 23, 2023.
• Work under way. https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/2025-advisory-committee. Accessed Jan. 23, 2023.