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Nutrition Pyramid/ Four Food Groups |
| American nutritionists used to think in terms of the Four Food Groups, but now use the Nutrition Pyramid instead. While these food matrices were designed to remain constant across cultures, we can see how different the membership of each group is in Japan and in the U.S. |
A comparison of the old four food group matrix |
| Food Group | JAPAN | U.S. |
| Milk/Dairy |
Soybean products, some milk products |
Milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream |
| Meat | Fish, some poultry, some eggs, some red meat |
Beef, pork, veal, lamb, poultry, fish, cheese, eggs |
| Vegetables and Fruit | Many of the same kinds of vegetables, plus others; not as
much fruit consumed in Japan as in the U.S. |
Green and yellow vegetables, tomatoes, citrus and other
fruits |
| Bread and Cereal | Rice in many forms; bread is becoming more popular |
Bread and other wheat products, breakfast cereal, corn, rice |
Compare the U.S. & Japanese food pyramids. Which diet is closer to the recommended diet in servings of grain and vegetables? |
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