If you grew up eating school lunches, you might remember the familiar food pyramid hanging on the cafeteria wall, offering guidance on what to eat for a healthy life. While much has changed since then, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines continue to be the cornerstone of federal nutrition policy and nutrition education activities, including programs like school meals, SNAP, and WIC. Temple University’s Jennifer Orlet Fisher, Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the College of Public Health (CPH) is one of 20 experts nationally chosen to serve on the prestigious 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.  

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee plays a critical role in reviewing the science on diet and health and making recommendations to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which develop the guidelines. Fisher’s appointment to the Committee was a career milestone. “For a nutritional scientist, serving on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is a tremendous honor and absolutely a bucket list position,” she said, noting the significant role the guidelines play in shaping federal nutrition programs that impact millions of Americans.

For the development of its Scientific Report, the Committee employed three distinct methods to assess the evidence: data analysis, systematic reviews, and food pattern modeling. Across each approach, health equity served as a guiding principle to review the evidence and draw conclusions that support individuals across diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds in achieving a healthy dietary pattern.

The Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee was publicly released and submitted to the Secretaries of HHS for their consideration in developing 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines which will be released later this year.  Fisher noted, “The guidelines are used by policy makers as well as health professionals, so they have significant implications for the population health and getting the science right matters.”    

"Professor Fisher's work on the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Committee demonstrates the caliber of expertise within CPH,” asserted dean Jennifer Ibrahim. “It's very exciting to know that one of our own will directly influence nutrition policies, promoting healthier, more equitable food choices for millions of Americans."