Goodbye pyramid, hello plate. First Lady sings praises of new dietary guidelines.

Forget everything you learned about the food pyramid. Today the United States Department of Agriculture unveiled a new model of a balanced meal. Introducing MyPlate, a visual aid that replaces the outdated model. The big difference from the original food pyramid, introduced in 1992 and updated in 2005, is simplicity. First Lady Michelle Obama praised the new model this morning at a press conference. "When it comes to eating...what's more simple than a plate?" said Obama, whose Let's Move anti-obesity initiative team worked with the USDA to create the new graphic.

"As a mom I can already tell you how much this is going to help parents all across the country," she continued. "Parents don't have the time to measure out three ounces of chicken or to look up how much rice or broccoli is in a serving...but we do have time to take a look at our kids' plates."

MyPlate is all about balancing the five elements of a healthy meal: fruit, vegetables, protein, grains and small side of dairy. About half of your plate should be fruits and vegetables, according to the new guide, while grains and protein should compliment the other half. The new campaign urges a full-fat dairy side with a lower-fat or fat-free alternative like skim milk.

Nutrition experts are joining the First Lady in bidding goodbye to the old pyramid, long criticized for being confusing and imbalanced. "There were two major causes for argument: political and nutritional," explained NYU public health professor Marion Nestle in an interview with Scientific American. "The political one made clear that meats and junk foods were to be consumed, but in smaller portions than other foods. The nutritional flaw was that it had grains at the bottom and recommended six to 11 servings. The serving sizes have grown to tremendous proportions, and no one knew what serving sizes were. One bagel is six servings, but no one knew that."

When the pyramid was re-configured graphically in 2005 with cup measurements instead of serving sizes, it baffled both experts and food consumers even more. "The 2005 pyramid had no food on it. It was completely un-teachable, and you needed a computer to understand it," added Nestle.

The new graphic relies more on a general understanding of portion balance than scale-measurements. Obama suggests this will make it easier not simply for parents to understand, but for kids as well. "Kids can learn how to use this tool now and they can use it for rest of their lives. We've had a conversation about sitting down with Malia and Sasha and helping them think about how to choose their proportions and this plate is a huge tool."

Diet giant Weight Watchers is also praising the USDA for the new MyPlate model. "The Dietary Guidelines tell us what we should be doing, but not necessarily how to do it," said Karen Miller-Kovach, the company's Chief Scientific Officer, in a press release that also capitalized on the P.R. opportunity. "What is exciting is that the new plate icon reinforces what our easy-to-follow PointsPlus programputs into action...Following this approach can help more people achieve and maintain a healthy weight."

Nestle however isn't completely sold on the new plate, warning that the protein portion on the plate overlaps with protein absorbed from grains and dairy. But she does consider the model an improvement from the way we've looked at a balanced meal in the past. "For most of us meat has made up most of the meal," added Nestle. "This is a huge change, and I think it's courageous."

The creation of the MyPlate campaign reportedly cost $2 million to create, and involved a focus group of 4,500 adults and children. The USDA will continue to feature nutrition information and tools on its new website, choosemyplate.gov. Social networking campaigns and other educational promotions around healthy eating will also be rolled out throughout the year.

Check out the USDA's introductory video for the MyPlate campaign.
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