For decades, the Food Pyramid has been used to achieve optimal health by showing what type (and how much) of individual foods people should eat every day. Redesigned in 2005, the updated pyramid boasts a rainbow of colored, vertical stripes corresponding to the five major food groups, plus fats and oils.
If you’re not sure what the colors stand for, the following is a quick reference:
Orange – grains
Green – vegetables
Red – fruits
Yellow – fats and oils
Blue – dairy products such as milk and butter
Purple – beans, nuts, fish and meat
Simply put, the food pyramid is a visual guide to show the variety of food people need to eat to maintain a healthy diet. The narrower the color band, the less consumption is required of the type of food corresponding to it and vice versa. As you will observe, it is best to eat a variety of healthy food. With the pyramid as your guide, you must attain to eat food from corresponding to each color band and following the proposed proportion each day.
Noticeably, the new pyramid has bands of varying width; they get narrower and thinner as they reach the top. This is because food items are not created equal. While cherry pie contains cherries, it does not compare with the nutritional value you would get from freshly-picked cherries straight from the tree! The same argument can be used with tomato vs. tomato ketchup. The more nutritious variety of the food is shown on the bottom thicker part of the pyramid, while the less nutritious appear at the top.
The most important feature of the food pyramid is the way it illustrates just how much a person should eat from each food category for each day. This is especially significant when giving proper attention to a kid’s nutrition.
Grains: Children should eat 4-6 ounces of grains every day to meet their daily requirements. Whole grains are the best options.
Vegetables: Vegetables play an important role in a healthy diet. For kids, the daily requirement is to consume around ½ to 2 cups. 
Fruits: Fresh fruits provide a significant amount of nutrients for a well-balanced diet. Remember that packaged fruits and fruit juices count on the slimmer part of the pyramid so it is always better to go for the fresh picks. Children need 1-1 ½ cups of fruits each day.
Dairy Products and Other Calcium-Rich Foods: It is universally known that calcium builds strong teeth and bones. So it is prudent to consume a helping of it every single day. For children, a minimum of 1-2 cups of milk (or other calcium-rich food) is needed to achieve the proposed daily requirement.
Beans, Nuts, Fish and Meat:
All other nutrients such as iron and protein needed to stay healthy can be found in this category. Kids are required to consume 3-5 ounces per day.
The Food Pyramid has made it a whole lot easier to lead a healthy lifestyle.
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