Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025: Working Together to Help Older Adults Make Every Bite Count

This webinar was presented live on July 14, 2021

Are you interested in helping older adults improve their dietary intake? In this webinar on the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, speakers from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services discuss evidence-based strategies to improve the health and quality of life for adults over 60. Learn about the suboptimal intakes of protein, fruits, vegetables, dairy, whole grains, and seafood in this population and how to leverage ready-to-use MyPlate tools and resources to help achieve optimal dietary intake. Whether you are a healthcare provider, nutrition communicator, educator or researcher working with older Americans or simply interested in learning more about this topic, this webinar is for you. Join us in exploring ways to reach the American people, help improve health and reduce disparities through the power of food and nutrition.

CPE Level: 2
CPEU: 1.0

Performance Indicators:

• 8.1.4 Demonstrates knowledge of nutrient requirements throughout the life span and their role in health promotion and disease management.
• 12.3.5 Takes into consideration public health policies and standards related to food and nutrition.
• 13.2.1 Adheres to and communicates relevant regulations, dietary guidelines and organization policies in menu development and implementation.

Learning Objectives

1. Identify current dietary intakes of older adults and opportunities for overall dietary pattern improvement for adults as they age.
2. Summarize key findings, the strength of the evidence, and the future directions related to dietary patterns in older adults identified by the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.
3. Effectively communicate how to use a MyPlate.gov resource or tool with other health professionals or the general public.

Moderator

Meghan Adler, MS, RDN, FAND
Nutritionist
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Speakers

Laural English, MSc, PhD
Nutritionist, Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review (NESR) team
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Laural English has been in the nutrition field for 13 years and received her PhD in Nutritional Sciences from Penn State University as part of the USDA-funded Childhood Obesity Prevention Training grant. She also holds an MSc in Human Nutrition with DPD verification, and BSc cum laude in Neuroscience. Laural has presented professionally at many international, national, and regional meetings. She has published over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles in the fields of nutrition, neuroscience, obesity, and systematic review methods. Prior to joining CNPP, she managed implementation of SNAP-Ed programming that translates key messages from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans into curricula reaching low-income audiences at all life stages in North Carolina. Since joining CNPP in 2016, Laural has worked with Technical Expert Collaboratives of the USDA-HHS Pregnancy and Birth to 24 Months Project to lead systematic reviews that examined diet and health outcomes the complementary feeding period. For the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, Laural led the Dietary Patterns Subcommittee in conducting systematic reviews that examined dietary patterns consumption and health outcomes across life stages. Currently, she serves on the USDA Leadership Council for the Women in Agriculture, and coordinates the Evidence Synthesis interest group for the NESR team. Laural has served as the Communications Chair for the Penn State Nutrition and Dietetics Alumni Society board for the past three years.

Julia Quam, MSPH, RDN
ORISE Prevention Science Fellow
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Julia has served as an ORISE Fellow in the HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion since 2017, where she supports the coordination, development, and communication of the USDA-HHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. She was a federal liaison for the Beverages and Added Sugars and Dietary Fats and Seafood Subcommittees of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, supporting the Committee's evidence reviews and report development. She also served as a member of the policy writing team for the USDA-HHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 and the HHS 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Prior to her current role, Julia spent five years primarily focused on development, implementation, and evaluation of nutrition education programs and materials. Julia received her undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences and Communication of Science & Technology from Vanderbilt University and her graduate degree in Human Nutrition from Johns Hopkins University.

Jessica Larson, MS, RD
Public Affairs Specialist
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Jessica Larson has served as a Nutritionist and Public Affairs Specialist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) since 2014. As a registered dietitian with experience in consumer messaging and communication, Jessica has focused her work at USDA on communicating the USDA-HHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans to consumers, media, and stakeholders. She was a member of the USDA-HHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015-2020 writing team and was involved in the process to develop the USDA-HHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. To help ensure the Dietary Guidelines resonate with consumers, Jessica has led consumer messaging research and audience segmentation research to be applied to the USDA MyPlate consumer campaign. Jessica manages external and governmental affairs for CNPP, particularly as they relate to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Prior to her time at USDA, Jessica worked at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the HHS National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, and Cline, Davis, Mann – a healthcare advertising agency in New York, NY. Jessica received her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from Brown University and her Masters degree in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition from Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition. She completed her dietetic internship at the HHS National Institutes of Health.