Americans urged to exercise hour daily, alter diet

Most Americans should significantly increase the amount of exercise they get, the government said yesterday, recommending 60 minutes a day of moderate activity to control weight, plus a diet that emphasizes whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Issuing new guidelines for America's diet, federal officials said Americans need to better balance their eating and their exercise. Previously, the government had recommended adults get about 30 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, every day. But with two-thirds of adults overweight or obese, the government now says 30 minutes is a mere minimum, and most people need an hour a day to keep from gaining weight and 60 to 90 minutes to keep pounds off once they lose weight.

The big boost in recommended exercise is needed in large part to offset American's ''super-sizing" of their diets and their sedentary lifestyle. As it stands, health officials say, only half of Americans now exercise for the minimal 30 minutes a day.

The government is also urging that Americans shift to whole grains for half of the breads and cereal they eat every day and eat a minimum of three ounces of whole-grain products, the equivalent of three slices of bread, in a 2,000-calorie day. A normal diet also should include 4 cups of fruits and vegetables, nearly double the previous recommendation and far more than most Americans consume.

Overall, nutrition specialists praised the new guidelines. They form the backbone of national nutritional policy, which is carried out in school lunch programs and other federal food initiatives that serve one in five Americans. Despite fear that the food industry would persuade government officials to water down the recommendations, many specialists said the guidelines were based on sound nutrition research and followed closely a draft written by scientific advisers.

However, the guidelines, last revised five years ago, do not go as far as the advisers recommended on cutting calories and sharply limiting consumption of trans fats, which are found in many packaged baked goods. And specialists questioned whether the government would spend enough money and effort to make sure Americans know and follow the recommendations.

''When people see these numbers, they're going to feel that it's impossible," said Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, speaking about the exercise recommendations. ''This is one of several examples of the huge chasm between what the diet guidelines recommend and what Americans are doing."

Although Wootan endorses the new diet guidelines, he said ''they'll only improve the public's health if there are very vigorous efforts to get this advice to the public," remove junk food from schools, encourage walking and other exercise, and urge food manufacturers to produce healthier products.

A consumer brochure published yesterday along with the 70-page guidelines drew criticism from Dr. Meir Stampfer, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. ''They're soft-pedaling the message," he said, noting that the brochure doesn't say enough about choices of protein and sugar.

Leaders of the two federal departments, Health and Human Services and Agriculture, that issued the guidelines, said they planned an education campaign focused on a new version of the food pyramid, which summarizes the recommendations in terms of servings of basic food groups. They said the new pyramid will be released in a few months.

Tommy Thompson, secretary of Health and Human Services, said ultimately he believes ''it's up to the individual," to make changes in exercise and diet.

But Eileen Kennedy, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and a former deputy undersecretary of agriculture, said federal officials need an ad campaign as effective as the dairy industry's promotion of milk.

''It's naive to think that the dietary guidelines by themselves are going to change the overweight, obesity problem in the US," she said.

The recommendations about increased exercise, which came from the advisory committee, have not been the focus of much public controversy. However, Dr. Carlos Camargo Jr., an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who served on the advisory committee, said there was some resistance from consumer advocates who said that pushing exercise took heat off the food industry and the need to cut calories.

''It's definitely a step up," he said of the exercise recommendations, but added that it was a reasonable recommendation.

''The best evidence suggests people should do about 60 minutes on most days of the week," he said. ''As importantly, they should cut down on sedentary activities, such as watching television or video." That, he said, would give them more time to exercise.

The guidelines dropped the committee's strong statement that ''most Americans need to reduce the amount of calories they consume," in favor of a recommendation to ''balance calories from food and beverages with calories expended." Yet, the executive summary says the thrust of the document is to ''encourage most Americans to eat fewer calories, be more active, and make wiser food choices."

Camargo said he was pleased with the recommendations overall, but was disappointed that the government dropped the committee's unanimous suggestion that Americans limit trans fats to less than 1 percent of calories, the equivalent of one-half pat of stick margarine. Studies have shown that these fats, contained in oils that are hardened to form margarine and other shortening, raise bad cholesterol.

The new guidelines say Americans should eat as little trans fat as possible, adopting language that the Grocery Manufacturers of America had pushed for. While some companies have eliminated trans fats from bread, cookies, or crackers, many packaged foods still contain them.

''It's simply not possible for us to eliminate trans fat without increasing saturated fats to the detriment of public health," said Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for the group that represents food and beverage makers. She said the industry was working to substitute good fats, such as canola oil, but needed two or three more years to make the transition.

The sugar industry lobbied hard to get the government to back off recommendations that Americans eat less sugar, but the guidelines say that adults should ''choose and prepare foods and beverages with little added sugar or caloric sweeteners."

In contrast, food manufacturers have moved quickly to add more whole grains to cereals and breads, which will help Americans meet the new recommendations that at least half of the grains they eat should be unrefined. Recommended whole grains include brown rice, oats, or popcorn.

While praising the recommendations overall, Stampfer of Harvard said they should have gone further on grains, advising Americans to give up virtually all refined carbohydrates, such as cakes, cookies, and white bread. ''They should be a rare treat, instead of a staple," he said.