The new food guide pyramid, introduced last year and known as MyPyramid, shows a new design in which the various food groups are represented by different colors and band widths. The primary goal is to encourage dietary and physical activity behavior change among Americans.

MyPyramid offers consumers a personalized approach to healthy eating and physical activity. The MyPyramid symbol represents the recommended proportion of foods from each food group and focuses on the importance of making smart food choices in every food group, every day. Physical activity is a new element in the symbol.

There are several ways to use MyPyramid. To evaluate your current diet and physical activity pattern, go to the Web site and click on the MyPyramid Tracker.

Highlights of MyPyramid:

• Personalized plan. Visit www.MyPyramid.gov to find a personalized recommendation of the kinds and amounts of food to eat each day.
• Gradual improvement. By taking small steps you can benefit by improving your diet and health each day, hence the slogan, “Steps to a Healthier You.”
• Physical activity. The new pyramid design shows steps and a person climbing them. This is a reminder to add physical activity to our daily routines.
• Variety. The six color bands represent the five food groups and oils. We need a variety of foods from all food groups for healthy living.
• Moderation. The pyramid narrows each food group from bottom to top. The wider base shows foods with little or no solid fats, added sugars or caloric sweeteners. The foods represented in the wider based columns are ones you should choose more often to get the most nutrition from the calories consumed.
• Proportion or quantity. The widths of the food group color bands are designed to be a general guide to suggest how much food you should choose from each food group.