Latest diet book author? The federal government

The latest volume squeezing in among the health titles already crowding bookstore shelves comes not from a fitness or food guru but from a first-time author in the health field: the federal government.

“A Healthier You” is out this month by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The paperback (not to be confused with a similarly titled book published in September by Sherri Tenpenny) is designed to help you put the government’s latest dietary guidelines into practice. That is, provided you shell out $12.95 to buy the book.

The federal government has long sold pamphlets, books, reports and more via the Government Printing Office. But this is the first time that Health and Human Services -- one of the two agencies responsible for updating the dietary guidelines for Americans every five years -- is selling a book through retailers and online at commercial sites such as Amazon.

So why is the federal government stepping into personal nutrition publishing?

“The purpose is to help foster health literacy,” said U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona. “We do the best we can to get the best science to the American public on lots of good issues, not just nutrition and exercise. But often the barrier is translational. This is a user-friendly pocket guide.”

At 340 pages, however, it may take cargo pants to hold it.

Low-tech aid

Much of the content of “A Healthier You” can be found elsewhere, but Carmona notes that publishing the book gets “the word out in an easy-to-understand way, particularly for those who may be computer-phobic.”

“A Healthier You” explains why healthful eating habits matter and makes the case for regular physical activity. It provides guidance on how to start changing habits, underscores the importance of finding balance between calories-in versus calories-out and explains why eating too much fat, added sugars and salt can undermine efforts to achieve a healthier weight. The book offers numerous charts, worksheets and lists to help readers put their new habits into action.

Congress mandates revision of the guidelines every five years, but earmarks few, if any, funds to inform the public about the guidelines. Both the guidelines and the well-known food pyramid were revamped earlier this year.

“You can’t promote the dietary guidelines unless you have a budget,” says Eileen Kennedy, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. She is also a former deputy undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which shares the duties for updating the guidelines.

“I applaud the fact that they have come out with this, because they need to think of multiple strategies to reach people at risk.”

Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, which places them at increased risk of a host of health problems, including premature heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney problems and arthritis.

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group, is disappointed with the book. Though Jacobson says it is “loaded with useful, accurate information, which is different from the typical diet book ... it is pretty tedious and bland.”

Besides, Jacobson says the book “studiously avoids any sharp criticism of any food, no matter how unhealthful it is.... I can’t imagine many people buying this book.”

Those who do will pay for guidance and advice that their tax dollars have already provided. Much of the information has been available on government websites for years.

Just don’t look for much information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency co-wrote the guidelines but isn’t listed as author of the book.

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Free resources

If you don’t want to ante up $12.95 for “A Healthier You,” here are a few places where you can find the same material at no cost:

* The new food pyramid. The book only gives the revised pyramid three sentences. Learn more at MyPyramid (www.mypyramid.gov) and its sister site, MyPyramid Tracker (www.mypyramidtracker.gov).

* Are you at a healthy weight? Check your body mass index at www.consumer.gov/weightloss/bmi.htm. Calculate BMI for children and teens at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention site: www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi.

* Dietary guidelines. Find links to the full guidelines and accompanying documents at www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines.

* Dinner tonight. Find the same crispy oven-fried chicken, 1-2-3 peach cobbler and other healthful recipes at www.nhlbi.nih.gov and at www.5aday.gov, including some in Spanish, which aren’t in “A Healthier You.”

-- Sally Squires