Part II

Part II of this report describes the process to update the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). The first edition was produced in 1980 and has evolved with each 5-year cycle. The 2005, 2010, and 2015 editions are the most comparable in terms of method. Part I of this report emphasized the importance of considering what needs to be done in the future to improve the DGA. Part II presents the basis for those recommendations and describes the current process. It also assesses the process and presents key findings. Part II includes three chapters.

Chapter 5 explains the current process for developing the DGA, with an in-depth review of the process for creating the 2015–2020 DGA. An evaluation of the process is also provided in this chapter and serves as the foundation for Chapter 3, “Process Redesign.”

Chapter 6 describes and evaluates the process for assessing the various types of analyses used to support the 2015–2020 DGA. As the base of the recommendations made in Chapter 4, “Strengthening Analyses and Advancing Methods Used,” this chapter also serves as the foundation for answering the Statement of Task questions “How the Nutrition Evidence Library is compiled and utilized, including whether NEL reviews and other systematic reviews and data analysis are conducted according to rigorous and objective scientific standards?” and “How systematic reviews are conducted on long-standing DGA recommendations, including whether scientific studies are included from scientists with a range of viewpoints?”

Chapter 7 describes how the 2005, 2010, and 2015 editions of the DGA approached preventing chronic disease and ensuring nutritional sufficiency for all Americans. This chapter builds the basis for this National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee’s response to the Statement of Task question “How the DGA can better prevent chronic disease, ensure nutritional sufficiency for all Americans, and accommodate a range of individual factors, including age, gender, and metabolic health?”