The Federal Government Might Start Tracking Your Couch Time

By Nathan Kirsch

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) released its final report of recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Thursday. The report was done by the committee consisting of 14-members and is the result of 18-months of work. The report is of interest to many as it will be used to update the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which was based on the last report that came out in 2010. The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans will be finalized and published later this year.

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In the report, the committee basically says that all Americans need healthier diets and that we need to eat more fruits and vegetables and consume lean meat with lower in animal proteins. Sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars are all recommended to be reduced in the average dietary intake. It also goes on to say that alcohol and caffeine should be used in moderation and that we need to reduce unhealthy options.

Healthy, sustainable dietary patterns also may provide new themes for consumer education and communication on lifestyle practices that can promote food security now and for future generations and create a culture of health’ at individual and population levels.

Basically, it says all the stuff you’d expect to learn about in such a report. The report also heavily talks about the amount of sedentary time Americans spend in front of computers and TV sets. It appears that this is a concern to the federal panel and it has some people upset.

Here is the exact paragraph from the report.

The Community Guide identified effective behavioral interventions to reduce recreational screen time and recommended that they be implemented in a variety of settings. The DGAC concurs with this recommendation because of the potential for these interventions to have beneficial effects on childrens diet and weight status. Multifaceted interventions to reduce recreational sedentary screen time may include home, school, neighborhood, and pediatric primary care settings, and emphasize parental, family, and peer based social support, coaching or counseling sessions, and electronic tracking and monitoring of the use of screen based technologies.

The report mentions electronic tracking and monitoring of the use of screen-based technologies as a way to limit screen time. Is that an invasion of privacy? Should the gevernment monitor and track how long Americans sit in front of a TV or PC?