Can visual plate-related dietary guidance systems – such as the MyPlate guideline or the Half-Plate Rule – help people eat better when dining at home or in restaurants? To help explore this, 104 young adults completed a food diary study after having been randomly assigned to follow either 1) USDA MyPlate guidelines, 2) the Half-Plate Rule, or 3) no guidelines (control condition). Both of the visual dietary guidance systems were considered easy to understand, to follow, and left people with fewer questions about what to eat (all p<.01). Moreover, people who rated a system “easy to follow” indicated they had consumed less (meat (r = .268), but this was uncorrelated with fruit and vegetable intake (r =.092) and carbohydrate intake (r = .069). There are three key conclusions to these and other findings: First, the simplest guidance system may be more effective than no system. Second, even the most perfect dietary guidance system will not change behavior if the foods are not available or it is not followed. Third, guidance systems could over-increase the consumption of any food they specifically mention.

Introduction The objective of this article is to analyze whether visual plate-related dietary guidance systems - such as the MyPlate guideline or the Half-Plate Rule - help people eat better when dining at home or in restaurants. Methods To help explore this, 104 young adults were randomly assigned to follow either (1) USDA MyPlate guidelines, (2) the Half-Plate Rule, or (3) no guidelines (control condition). They then used their assigned guidelines to complete the survey while eating a dinner of their choice. They completed a food diary for the meal and then completed a survey about their experience. Results Both the two visual dietary guidance systems (My Plate and the Half-Plate Rule) were considered easy to understand and easy to follow, and they left people with fewer questions about what to eat (all p < 0.01). Understandability is important because those people who rated a system "easy to follow" indicated they had consumed less meat than usual (r = 0.268), but understandability was uncorrelated with fruit and vegetable intake (r = 0.092) and carbohydrate intake (r = 0.069). Conclusions There are three key conclusions to these and other findings: first, the simplest guidance system may be more effective than none. Second, even the most perfect dietary guidance system will not change behavior if (a) the foods are not available, or (b) it is not followed. Third, guidance systems could over- increase the consumption of some foods (such as dairy) they specifically mention, presumably because it makes them more salient in one's mind.

Background: How does a parent’s action at home sabotage the way their child eats when they are not at home? This two-part study explored which parental behaviors at home were most correlated with 75 preschooler’s requests for larger servings of snacks when away from home and away from parental scrutiny.Methods: Primary meal providers of three- to five-year old children completed surveys describing how they served food and snacks at home (such as whether they were always available in any amount a child wanted) and a wide range of questions about snacking habits of their children. Two weeks later, their children were met (without their parents present) and asked to indicate how much Froot Loops (a popular pre-sweetened cereal) they wanted for their morning snack. Correlations between how much they served and household snacking behaviors were then explored.Results: Boys who were often required to clean their plates at home requested more cereal during snack time when away from home (p<0.05), and daughters who were able to snack at home whenever at home whether they wanted also requested more (p<0.05). Girls who were frequently given fruit as a snack at home requested less presweetened cereal when away from home (p<0.01).Conclusions: Parent actions in the home might have an unexpected impact on how much of less healthy foods children request when they away from such parental oversight. Care must be taken so a parent does not win a food battle at home just to lose any away-from-home food war.

No abstract