A: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans is the cornerstone of Federal nutrition policy and nutrition education activities, providing food-based recommendations to promote health, help prevent diet-related disease, and meet nutrient needs. HHS and USDA jointly publish the Dietary Guidelines every 5 years.

The Dietary Guidelines informs a variety of Federal activities, such as updating nutrition standards for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. Federally funded nutrition education activities also use the Dietary Guidelines to develop messages, while also tailoring to meet the particular needs of a specific audience based on culture, context, life stage, and other considerations where needed. Besides the Federal government, Tribal, state, and local governments, academic institutions, non-government organizations, and the private sector use the Dietary Guidelines to inform their research, policy, programs, and practices for public health promotion and disease prevention initiatives. 

A: The Dietary Guidelines was first released in 1980. In 1990, Congress passed the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act, which mandates in Section 301 that HHS and USDA jointly publish the Dietary Guidelines at least every five years. The law requires that the Dietary Guidelines is based on the preponderance of current scientific and medical knowledge. You can learn more about the history of the Dietary Guidelines by visiting our page on this topic. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 is the current edition until the next edition is released.

A: Updating the Dietary Guidelines is a scientifically rigorous, multi-year process that includes many opportunities for public participation. The process is best understood through five steps, which are described in detail under the Learn About the Process section

• Step 1: Identify the Scientific Questions
• Step 2: Appoint the Advisory Committee
• Step 3: Advisory Committee Reviews Scientific Evidence
• Step 4: Develop the Dietary Guidelines
• Step 5: Implement the Dietary Guidelines

HHS and USDA are currently in Step 4, working together to develop the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines. Each edition builds upon the preceding edition, with the scientific justification for revisions informed by the Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (Scientific Report), Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI), existing Federal guidance and consideration of public and federal agency comments. HHS and USDA plan to release the Dietary Guidelines by the end of 2025.

A: HHS and USDA have considered factors related to health equity in every step – from the identification of scientific questions to the appointment of the Committee, throughout the Committee’s scientific review and development of its Scientific Report, and in the drafting of the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines.

The 2025 Dietary Guidelines has submitted its Scientific Report to HHS and USDA to inform the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines. The Committee was asked to take a healthy equity lens across all of the scientific approaches used to answer the scientific questions to help ensure that factors such as socioeconomic position, race, ethnicity, and culture are considered and described to the greatest extent possible based on the information provided in the scientific literature and data. This healthy equity lens will help to ensure that the resulting guidance in the Dietary Guidelines is reflective and inclusive of various population groups.

A:The Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (Scientific Report) has been posted on DietaryGuidelines.gov and a 60-day public comment period opened on December 11, 2024.  On Thursday, January 16, 2025, HHS and USDA will hold a virtual oral public comment meeting to hear comments from the public on the Committee’s Scientific Report, which will be a key resource used to develop the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines, along with input from the public and federal agencies.

HHS and USDA encourage the public to stay engaged and participate in the Dietary Guidelines development process. To learn more and get announcements visit our page on how to Get Involved, and sign up for email updates.

A: NESR has maintained a robust Continuous Quality Advancement (CQA) program since its inception. Through this CQA program, NESR routinely evaluates and refines its methodology and tools to ensure that NESR’s process remains state-of-the-art. CQA work results in timely updates to the NESR methodology manual, procedure, and training materials.

Engagement with other leading systematic review organizations is a crucial component of NESR’s CQA program. NESR works to learn from the expertise of these other systematic review organizations’ methodological advances and technological infrastructure while making sure that NESR methods are appropriate for public health nutrition decision-making. Leveraging the work of other organizations ensures NESR methodology aligns with current best practices and that staff are adequately trained, promotes efficiency and resource management, and ensures the ongoing high quality and credibility of NESR work.

Information on the NESR methodology systematic review work of the 2025 Committee can be found on the Examine the Evidence page.

A: To prepare for the establishment of the 2025 Committee, HHS and USDA collaborated on Continuous Quality Advancement (CQA) efforts for food pattern modeling, focusing on methods to better reflect the complex interactions involved, variability in intakes, and range of possible healthful diets. Federal staff evaluated the analytic methods and development of data inputs and constraints for food pattern modeling and compared them to methods used in the development of guidance in other countries, as well as other modeling exercises described in scientific publications. This effort is part of HHS and USDA’s commitment to drive continuous process advancements and adopt best practices.

A: HHS and USDA provided the public with multiple opportunities to participate before, throughout, and after the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s review of the science, and the Departments value everyone’s engagement.

The Departments invite the public to learn more about this opportunity for public engagement, go to the Get Involved page.

A: For the process to develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030, HHS and USDA determined the topic of alcoholic beverages and health requires a comprehensive review with significant, specific expertise. HHS and USDA addressed the scientific reviews on this topic through efforts separate from the work of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. The scientific reviews on adult alcohol consumption were supported by a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) committee and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) working on complementary tracks. Both projects included opportunities for public participation and external scientific peer review.

An HHS committee, the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD), supported analyses, by an independent scientific review panel, to generate risk estimates for various health outcomes associated with alcohol consumption. NASEM supported a scientific committee, mandated in the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, to conduct a series of systematic reviews on alcohol intake and various health outcomes.

The reports are available on their respective study pages:

• Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) Alcohol Intake and Health Draft Report
• NASEM Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health Report

HHS and USDA are requesting public input on these reports. The findings from both reports, along with public comments and federal agency input, will be considered by the departments as they develop guidance on alcoholic beverages in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030.

Visit this page to learn more about how to submit a comment.

For more information on the ICCPUD and NASEM work, please go to our “Related Projects” page.

A: The role of the Committee was to review the current body of nutrition science and develop a Scientific Report with advice for HHS and USDA to use to help inform the development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030. Specifically, the Committee examined the scientific evidence on specific topics in nutrition and health using each of the following approaches: data analysis, systematic reviews, and food pattern modeling. Conclusion statements and findings from the scientific questions answered using the three approaches were used by the Committee to develop overarching advice to the Departments. Committee members collaborated during public meetings where they discussed development of protocols, reviewed and synthesized evidence, presented scientific findings and conclusion statements and provided an overview of its Scientific Report. Throughout the Committee’s work, it collected and reviewed input from public comments as it finalized its work.

Being a Committee member is a volunteer position, and HHS and USDA greatly value the dedication, expertise, and contribution that each Committee member provided throughout the Committee’s tenure. Although Committee members serve without pay, travel for in-person meetings was reimbursed at approved rates.

A: The 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is formed under and governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which provides legal requirements for forming and using federal advisory committees. According to FACA, a charter must be filed with Congress before a federal advisory committee can meet or take any action. The charter for the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee was filed on December 9, 2022. HHS and USDA accepted Committee nominations from the public. All complete nomination packages were reviewed by HHS and USDA program staff and leadership based on the following criteria:

• Professional Experience
• Educational Background
• Demonstrated Scientific Expertise
• Balanced and Diverse Membership

Additional vetting included a background check by HHS to determine if any candidates have a financial, ethical, legal, and/or criminal conflict of interest that would prohibit them from serving on the Committee. In addition, in compliance with the federal ethics laws and regulations, each Committee member submitted a confidential financial disclosure report annually. HHS ethics officials reviewed the confidential financial disclosure report and ensured the members’ interests and affiliations comply with Federal laws and regulations.

Although financial disclosure reports are confidential, the Committee decided to voluntarily disclose any relationships, activities, and interests in the past 12 months that may potentially be related to the content of the Committee’s scientific review, using a form from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

These disclosures represent a commitment to transparency and do not necessarily indicate bias. The Committee worked collectively to review the evidence on diet and health and provide advice, minimizing any potential bias from individual members. Because its work is collective, the Committee decided to provide its disclosures collectively rather than individually. In addition to these disclosures, the Committee’s scientific process is designed to minimize bias through a rigorous methodological approach, and Committee members received annual ethics training.

View the Committee’s voluntary disclosures on Step 3: Advisory Committee Reviews Scientific Evidence.

A: Each member of the Committee underwent extensive vetting prior to appointment. HHS serves as the administrative lead for the 2025 Committee and conducted background checks to determine if any candidates have a financial, ethical, legal, and/or criminal conflict of interest that would prohibit them from serving on the Committee. In addition, in compliance with the federal ethics laws and regulations, each Committee member submitted a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (known as the OGE Form 450)  annually. HHS ethics officials reviewed the confidential financial disclosure reports and ensured the members’ interests and affiliations comply with federal laws and regulations.

The members of the Committee were appointed as special government employees (SGEs).  All SGEs have a fiduciary responsibility to the federal government while working on advisory committees and must follow the comprehensive federal ethics laws, including the criminal conflicts of interest and financial disclosure reporting laws and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch.  All SGEs must comply with the financial disclosure requirements found in the Office of Government Ethics regulations at 5 C.F.R. § 2634, Subpart I.

All members of the Committee were in compliance with the Federal ethics laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest. All Committee members complied with the reporting of all necessary financial information under these laws.

A: The 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has submitted its Scientific Report and has now disbanded. The 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee held seven meetings to complete its work. During the first six meetings, the Advisory Committee discussed its review of the scientific evidence and made plans for future Committee work. Prior to submitting the Scientific Report to the departments, the Committee held a Scientific Report meeting to discuss its draft report. All Committee meetings have been recorded and are available to view. More information about the Committee’s meetings, including archived materials from all its meetings can be found by visiting the View Past Committee Meetings page.

A: The 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee used three rigorous approaches to examine the evidence: data analysis, systematic reviews, and food pattern modeling. Each of these approaches has a unique, complementary role in examining the science. Additional information can be found regarding each approach on the Committee’s Scientific Report Supplement pages.

A: The Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (Scientific Report) describes the Committee’s scientific review and overarching advice to USDA and HHS for consideration as the Departments develop the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines. The Committee’s Scientific Report is not a draft of the Dietary Guidelines. You can read the Scientific Report here. The public is encouraged to submit comments to the departments on the Scientific Report as part of the 60-day public comment period which opened on December 11, 2024. Public comments along with input from federal agencies will be considered by the Departments in the development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 which is expected to be released by the end of 2025.

A: The Committee answered a set of prioritized questions that focus on the relationship between diet and health across the lifespan. The Committee was responsible for developing the protocols for each of its prioritized questions. A protocol – or plan – was developed for questions answered using systematic review or food pattern modeling methodologies. A protocol describes how the methodology will be tailored to answer a specific question. The protocol was created by the Committee before it examined any evidence and is shared with the public to help the public better understand how a specific question or topic will be answered. Developing protocols provides transparency, guards against selective reporting, avoids duplication of effort, and facilitates peer review and public comment.

The Committee provided updates about its work during its meetings, which were open to the public. The public was encouraged to submit written comments to the Committee on topics relevant to its work, including on its protocols and draft findings presented at its meetings.

A: HHS and USDA prioritized transparency and public participation throughout the Committee’s scientific review process. The Committee held seven public meetings to present and discuss protocols, evidence reviews, and draft conclusions. These meetings were accessible to the public via live virtual broadcasts and recordings, with materials such as presentation slides and summaries posted online. The meetings were viewed by individuals from all 50 states and over 25 countries.

Public engagement extended beyond the meetings, highlighting the importance of feedback in shaping the process. Before conducting evidence reviews, the Committee shared protocols and plans on DietaryGuidelines.gov to solicit public input. Over the course of the Committee’s work, the public contributed 9,946 written comments (OASH-2022-0021-0001) and participated in a dedicated oral comment session during the Committee’s third public meeting in July 2024, where 82 speakers shared their perspectives.

These efforts emphasize the value of public input in ensuring a transparent and inclusive approach to developing the Dietary Guidelines. For more details on opportunities for participation, visit the Get Involved and View Virtual Meetings pages.

A: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 is the first edition that provides guidance for healthy dietary patterns by life stage, from birth through older adulthood, and for the first time, there are chapters devoted to each life stage, including chapters on infants and toddlers and women who are pregnant or lactating. 

Check out our Top 10 Things to Know About the Dietary Guidelines resource.

A: This edition of the Dietary Guidelines emphasizes the importance of choosing nutrient-dense foods and beverages in place of less healthy choices at every life stage, and that it is never too early or too late to improve food and beverage choices to build a healthy dietary pattern. Its call to action is “Make Every Bite Count with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” The four overarching guidelines to help make that happen are: 

1. Follow a healthy dietary pattern at every life stage. 
2. Customize and enjoy nutrient-dense food and beverage choices to reflect personal preferences, cultural traditions, and budgetary considerations. 
3. Focus on meeting food group needs with nutrient-dense foods and beverages and stay within calorie limits. 
4. Limit foods and beverages higher in added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium, and limit alcoholic beverages. 

For most individuals, no matter their age or health status, achieving a healthy dietary pattern will require changes in food and beverage choices. The good news is that a healthy dietary pattern is not a rigid prescription. Rather, the Dietary Guidelines provides a customizable framework of core elements within which individuals can make tailored and affordable, nutrient-dense choices that meet their personal preferences and cultural traditions.

A: USDA and HHS provided multiple opportunities for public participation before, throughout, and after the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s review of the science, and the Departments valued this engagement. See our infographic Public Engagement Strengthens the Process to learn more about the opportunities for public engagement in the process to develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. 

A: USDA and HHS provided multiple opportunities for public participation before, throughout, and after the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s review of the science, and the Departments value everyone’s engagement. All public comments submitted throughout the development process are available through Regulations.gov.

• View written comments provided to USDA and HHS on the process to identify the topics and supporting scientific questions to be examined by the Committee.
• View written comments submitted to the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.
• View written comments submitted to USDA and HHS on the Advisory Committee’s Scientific Report.

A: Each edition of the Dietary Guidelines builds on the preceding edition, with the scientific justification for revisions informed by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s Scientific Report, consultation with subject matter experts within Federal agencies, and consideration of comments from these agencies and the public. As with previous editions, development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 involved a step-by-step process of writing, review, and revision conducted by a writing team of Federal staff from USDA and HHS. The writing team included Federal nutrition scientists with expertise in the Dietary Guidelines and related research and programs as well as specialists with expertise in communicating nutrition information. Key tenets of writing the Dietary Guidelines are that it must:

• Represent the totality of the evidence examined
• Address the needs of Federal programs
• Reduce unintended consequences 
• Follow best practices for developing guidelines
• Use plain language

Any revisions to previous editions of the Dietary Guidelines must have sufficient scientific justification, and by law, must be based on the preponderance of scientific and medical knowledge current at the time and not on individual studies, emerging science, or opinion. To support transparency, the Departments documented how the Committee’s scientific report was used to develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025.

Learn more about how USDA and HHS developed the Dietary Guidelines by visiting our page on this topic.

A: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 is currently available to download for free on DietaryGuidelines.gov. A hard copy version is also available for purchase through the U.S. Government Bookstore.

A: Suggested citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. 9th Edition. December 2020. Available at DietaryGuidelines.gov.

A: Information related to the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s work can be found under “Current Dietary Guidelines” in the "Process to Develop the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines" section. This section links to the Committee’s Scientific Report and public comments provided to USDA and HHS on the Committee’s Scientific Report. Additional supplementary information for data analysis and food pattern modeling are also available on DietaryGuidelines.gov. The completed NESR Systematic Reviews conducted by the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee can be found on the NESR website.

A: The Dietary Guidelines provides science-based recommendations on what Americans should eat and drink to promote health and prevent chronic disease – including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Of the 60 percent of adults in the United States who currently are living with one or more diet-related chronic conditions, the majority are people with a condition that is included in the evidence base of the Dietary Guidelines. For people living with hypertension, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes, overweight and obesity, the evidence shows they would benefit from following the Dietary Guidelines recommendations to prevent progression to disease, such as cardiovascular disease.

Those living with a disease, such as the 11 percent of Americans with diabetes, require clinical treatment. We emphasize that these are diseases that need one-on-one oversight and care by a medical specialist and team focused on the specific disease. 

The Dietary Guidelines is not intended to be clinical guidelines for treating diet-related chronic diseases. However, Dietary Guidelines has served as a reference for Federal, medical, voluntary, and patient care organizations as they develop clinical nutrition guidance tailored for people living with a specific medical condition. Health professionals can adapt the Dietary Guidelines to meet the specific needs of their patients with chronic diseases, as part of a multi-faceted treatment plan. In this way, the Dietary Guidelines serve as a foundational piece of America’s larger nutrition guidance landscape.

To learn more, check out our infographic The Dietary Guidelines for Americans Can Help You Eat Healthy To Be Healthy.

A: A healthy dietary pattern can benefit all individuals regardless of age, race or ethnicity, or current health status. The current edition (2020-2025) of the Dietary Guidelines provides food-based recommendations across the entire lifespan, providing guidance at varying calorie levels that can fit an individual’s age, sex, height, weight, and activity level. And people can “make it their own” by selecting healthy foods, beverages, meals, and snacks specific to their needs and preferences.

The Dietary Guidelines provides a framework for a healthy dietary pattern (featuring nutrient-dense foods and beverages within recommended calorie limits) that is intended to be customized to individual needs and preferences. This concept is emphasized in the second of the four overarching guidelines in the 2020-2025 edition – which describes how individuals can customize a healthy dietary pattern to enjoy nutrient-dense food and beverage choices to reflect personal preferences, cultural traditions, and budgetary considerations.

In every setting, across all cultures, and at any age or budget, there are foods and beverages that can fit within the Dietary Guidelines framework.

A: Decades of research shows that consuming a healthy dietary pattern that aligns with the Dietary Guidelines is associated with a wide range of health benefits, across all life stages. Unfortunately, most people in the U.S. are not eating according to the Dietary Guidelines. The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) measures how well eating patterns align with the Dietary Guidelines. The average HEI score for individuals ages 2 and older is 58 out of a possible 100 points. The average HEI-Toddlers-2020 score for ages 12 through 23 months is 63 out of 100. Professional Resources available on DietarygGuidelines.gov and USDA’s MyPlate can help improve implementation of the Dietary Guidelines.

A: The science supporting the Dietary Guidelines consistently identifies low-fat and fat-free dairy as a component of a healthy dietary pattern. In addition, the dairy food group provides nutrients, such as calcium, vitamin A, vitamin D, and protein that help meet nutrient needs required across age and sex groups.

For individuals who are lactose-intolerant or who choose dairy alternatives, the dairy food group includes low-lactose or lactose-free dairy products, as well as fortified soy beverages and yogurt.

There are other calcium-fortified plant-based “milks” on the market that can help an individual meet their calcium recommendations; however these products are not part of the dairy food group because, as a category, their overall nutritional content is not similar to dairy milk.

A: The Dietary Guidelines does not encourage a low-fat diet but rather it provides guidance to limit a type of fat called saturated fat to 10% of daily calories. The 2020-2025 edition encourages swapping saturated fat for healthier unsaturated fats:

• For those 2 years and older, intake of saturated fat should be limited to less than 10 percent of calories per day by replacing them with unsaturated fats, particularly polyunsaturated fats.
• The recommendation to limit saturated fat to less than 10 percent of calories per day does not apply to those younger than age 2, and the inclusion of higher fats versions of dairy is a notable difference in the pattern for toddlers ages 12 through 23 months compared to patterns for ages 2 and older.

(Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025)

Decades of research shows that saturated fat is linked to increased cardiovascular disease, and this relationship was documented in the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s latest review of the body of evidence.

The Dietary Guidelines carry forward the Dietary Reference Intakes established by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for different age and sex groups and recommends between 20-35% of daily calories come from total fat.