Hospital's dietician says new dietary guidelines have been issued

If you're interested in healthy living, you should know that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have issued new dietary guidelines for Americans.

Winneshiek Medical Center's director of nutrition services, Joetta Redlin, says the new, simplified guidelines come at a time when obesity rates are increasing across the county.  Says Redlin, "The new guidelines identify the underlying problems contributing to obesity rates.  If Americans make even a few of the suggested changes to their diet, their health has the potential to dramatically improve now and throughout their lifetime."

Redlin says families can make easy changes to their diet, including avoiding oversized portions and eating less food, increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables they eat, switching to fat-free or 1 percent milk, avoiding salt and drinking water instead of sugary drinks.