Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Strengthening Interagency Collaboration Could Help Inform Nutrition Research and Future Guidelines
Fast Facts
Every five years the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services produce the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines provide advice on what to eat and drink to meet nutrient needs, promote health, and prevent disease.
USDA and HHS co-chair a committee that identifies nutrition research priorities—which may inform the 2025-2030 guidelines. The committee's work has supported some research tools, like nutrition research databases. But it hasn't fully incorporated seven of our leading practices for effective collaboration—such as clarifying roles and responsibilities to avoid duplicating efforts. We recommended it do so.
USDA’s MyPlate.gov is based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Departments of Defense (DOD), Health and Human Services (HHS), Agriculture (USDA), and Veterans Affairs (VA) are taking various actions to promote the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines contain nutritional and dietary information and guidance for the public, as required by law. For example, USDA updated MyPlate, which provides online tools and resources that translate the guidelines for consumer use. In addition, HHS and USDA co-chair a committee that, as required by law, reviews federal nutrition educational materials to ensure consistency with the current guidelines.
Assessment of Interagency Committee on Human Nutrition Research Efforts Compared with Leading Practices for Interagency Collaboration
HHS and USDA co-chair the Interagency Committee on Human Nutrition Research, through which they collaborate to inform Dietary Guidelines for Americans related nutrition research priorities. The committee has taken various actions to inform nutrition research but has not fully incorporated seven of the eight leading practices identified by GAO for ensuring agencies are effectively collaborating and thereby reducing the risk of overlap and duplication (see fig.). The committee has generally incorporated one of these practices to identify and sustain its leadership but has not incorporated others, such as ensuring accountability and clarifying roles and responsibilities. For example, for ensuring accountability, the committee does not have any mechanisms for tracking progress toward addressing nutrition research gaps, such as the relationship between diet during lactation and infant development outcomes. In addition, for clarifying roles and responsibilities, the committee has not taken actions to ensure that the research each agency conducts is complementary and not overlapping or duplicative. By fully incorporating these seven leading collaboration practices, the committee may be better able to identify and prioritize nutrition research related to addressing gaps identified in prior editions of the guidelines and informing future editions of the dietary guidelines. Doing so would also help the committee avoid the risks of unintentionally overlapping and duplicative research activities.
Why GAO Did This Study
The U.S. faces a nutrition-related health crisis, according to recent federal data. Poor diet is a prominent risk factor for developing chronic health conditions. Dietary patterns emphasizing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are associated with lower risk of developing diet-related chronic health conditions. HHS and USDA produce the dietary guidelines every 5 years to provide nutrition guidance reflecting the scientific consensus.
GAO was asked to review federal efforts to promote the current guidelines and identify research needed to inform future editions of the guidelines. This report (1) describes actions selected agencies have taken to promote the 2020-2025 guidelines and (2) examines HHS and USDA efforts to collaborate to identify and prioritize human nutrition research that may inform future editions.
GAO reviewed laws and agencies' documents and interviewed officials from DOD, HHS, USDA, and VA. GAO compared agency efforts with leading interagency collaboration practices identified in prior work. GAO interviewed a nongeneralizable sample of 10 stakeholders, such as academic researchers, selected based on their expertise.
Recommendations
GAO is making two recommendations that the Secretaries of HHS and USDA ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Health and the USDA Chief Scientist—as co-chairs of the committee—fully incorporate seven leading collaboration practices, such as ensuring accountability. HHS generally agreed. USDA neither agreed nor disagreed.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Human Services | The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Health—as co-chair of the Interagency Committee on Human Nutrition Research—fully incorporates seven leading interagency collaboration practices in order to better inform and prioritize DGA-related nutrition research. Actions to incorporate these practices could include ensuring that agency research plans are complementary and reflect the current desired outcomes and conducting an inventory of federal authorities, activities, and appropriations related to nutrition research that could inform the DGA development process. (Recommendation 1) |
In its written comments, HHS agreed with this recommendation. In February 2024, HHS indicated that with dedicated funds and resources, the Interagency Committee on Human Nutrition Research Committee could address the leading interagency collaboration practices and stated that it could establish and curate the inventory needed to support advancing human nutrition-related research to inform all public health research and policy, including the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In May 2024, HHS stated that it had proactively taken various actions to address the recommendation. For example, the Interagency Committee on Human Nutrition Research is expanding the number of participating agencies to ensure representation across the federal government and to enhance collaboration and it is instituting meetings for the entire committee at least biannually. GAO will continue to monitor HHS's progress and provide additional information about the status of this recommendation. By fully incorporating leading interagency collaboration practices, HHS will be better able to ensure it has the research it needs to inform and prioritize future editions of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics—as co-chair of the Interagency Committee on Human Nutrition Research—fully incorporates seven leading interagency collaboration practices in order to better inform and prioritize DGA-related nutrition research. Actions to incorporate these practices could include ensuring that agency research plans are complementary and reflect the current desired outcomes and conducting an inventory of federal authorities, activities, and appropriations related to nutrition research that could inform the DGA development process. (Recommendation 2) |
In April 2024, USDA agreed with the recommendation and observed that there are existing processes in place through which interagency coordination could be leveraged to implement this recommendation. For example, USDA stated that it utilizes its annual Food and Nutrition Service research and evaluation plan to inform the Dietary Guidelines for Americans process. However, USDA also indicated that without additional resources, such as hired staff, the Interagency Committee on Human Nutrition Research is restricted in its policy and research analytic activities. GAO will continue to monitor USDA's progress and provide additional information about the status of this recommendation. By fully incorporating leading interagency collaboration practices, USDA will be better able to ensure it has the research it needs to inform and prioritize future editions of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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