Meet Mrs Koh and Anna

Meet 81-year-old Mrs. Koh and 10-year-old Anna —whose lives are impacted by food choices.

Mrs Koh stays in the nursing home; she thought her nutritional needs would be taken care of through the meals provided in the facility. This isn’t the case. Mrs Koh often finds herself semi-hungry, not because of a lack of food, but a lack of culturally appropriate food.

Young Anna loves school but not school meals. Not that she doesn't like food (which child does not?), but she knows she would have to settle for one fewer food---milk, in the lunch tray. She is told if she wants a milk alternative, she must produce a medical note for the school. But Anna is not sick; she does not drink cow’s milk because that is not how she is being fed at home.

Mrs Koh and Anna’s stories aren't isolated incidents. Theirs is a common struggle of many ethnic minorities who do not embrace a diet that is heavy on milk and dairy products. Up to 70% of ethnic minorities, especially the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) community suffer lactose intolerance.

Every day across our nation thousands if not millions of people, from seniors to children who rely on government-funded nutrition assistance programs face limited food choices. They either must be content with less to eat or jump through all sorts of hoops for dairy-free options.

But being lactose intolerant should not limit one’s access to essential nutrition for good health.

This should not be the case. But it is.

We can change the statistics if we change the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).  Because it drives all public-funded food and nutrition services. It tells Americans what and how to eat to be healthy. It sets the Healthy Eating Index which is the nutrition rubric or algorithm for what a high-quality diet looks like. It decides the design of MyPlate.

Look at MyPlate. The prominent display of milk on the infographic says it all. For over 40 years, DGA has stipulated that daily milk consumption be part of a high-quality diet. Specifically, it says one must consume 3 servings of milk/day. This is well and good for people whose cultural diet includes dairy. But what if you are lactose intolerant? Or drinking milk is just not your thing?

No wonder Mrs Koh and Anna face so much trouble finding enough to eat for health and growth.

But culturally insensitive food programs present a bigger problem: The BIPOC communities statistically are more susceptible to diet-related diseases, and many of them are not accustomed to drinking milk. They cannot relate to DGA. The diversity-insensitive nutrition programs become a missed opportunity for timely and effective intervention that vulnerable populations desperately need. Our nutrition programs fail to help people who need it the most, further widening the health disparity gaps.

More importantly, the idea that somehow everyone must consume dairy to enjoy better health is problematic:

A)    There are millions of non-dairy drinking people in American and around the world who enjoy good health and low bone issues.

B)     People make their food choices based on culture, religion, or reasons relating to animal rights, environmental sustainability, or many other ideologies. These preferences must be represented in our national dietary guidelines.

Plenty of scientific evidence suggests that non-dairy drinking population enjoy a high-quality diet too. 

Here’s one more thing that is baffling: milk—a cultural drink, is featured as the beverage of choice instead of water on MyPlate. Why? I am not aware if there is any culture, religion or diet ideology that would be against the importance of daily water intake over that of milk.

Can we make our food programs and nutrition education meet the needs of everyone? Yes!

Change can happen if we start from the top, which is the DGA.

Let’s make DGA culturally inclusive so that all its downstream services can reach out to Americans of all races, ethnicities, cultures, faiths, and dietary preferences, and nourish the health of everyone, including Mrs Koh and Anna.

Together, we can ensure inclusivity and equity in diet and food.

We can change how DGA is written. Sign the letter below by Sep 10, 2023, and make your voice heard.

SIGN THE LETTER HERE: Support Racial Equity DGA by Sep 10

Contact: Yen Ang dr.yenang@gmail.com for any questions