The nexus of dietary guidelines and food security

Deficiency of nutrition is generally referred to as malnutrition; however, malnutrition can refer to both overnutrition and undernutrition. Nutrient availability and intake are current challenges for society, and these challenges will only intensify as population continues to grow and resources become more stressed. This chapter examines the need for dietary guidelines to increase nutrition security, describes the history of dietary guidelines in the United States, examines compliance and challenges with compliance of dietary guidelines, and finishes with future implications of dietary guidelines. This study concluded that although the purpose of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidelines is to assist Americans in choosing healthy eating patterns and to alleviate the negative health and economic outcomes associated with malnutrition, consumers typically do not follow the USDA Dietary Guidelines due to their inherent complexities and other factors, such as income and access to food which may affect compliance.