Pyramids, Plates, and Pagodas: Dietary Guidelines From Around the World

Following today's release of updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the ubiquitous food pyramid will need to be revised accordingly. Perhaps, as o

Germany uses a complicated-looking 3-D pyramid that you can rotate online here. The extra dimension allows for a characteristic thoroughness: the sides of the pyrami

Slovenia's build-your-own pyramid is a low-tech version of Germany's 3-D model, although, puzzlingly, it lacks a base.

The Greek pyramid, by comparison, is rather boring visually, but I like the fact that olive oil merits an entire level of its own, immediately above fruit and vegetables. Meanwhile, red wine is positioned in such a way that it is clearly as important

The Spanish food pyramid also creates a separate (but smaller) section for olive oil but replaces the red wine with water.

The Swiss food pyramid seems like a model of good sense, with water taking up the largest level at the bottom (where most other countries, including the United States, put grains and starches), followed by fruit and vegetables. At the top, the Swiss a

The Chinese Nutrition Society created a slightly peculiar-looking pagoda to visualize its dietary guidelines. Bizarrely, tofu is ranked only just below oil, grouped with milk and dairy products.

None of these pyramids are really masterpieces of graphic design, but this Hungarian house is particularly pitiful. Aesthetics aside, however, it succeeds in being admirably clear and bold in its embrace of an Atkins-style carb-free diet.

Japan's official food guide is an inverted pyramid, or spinning top (powered, perhaps, by the man running on its surface). Its other peculiarity is that fruit, which is admittedly high in sugars but is usually lumped in with vegetables in the heal

The French abandon the pyramid altogether, in favor of ascending steps. Sugars, fats, and salt should be consumed in such tiny quantities that you will need a magnifying glass to see them.

The Canadian pyramid is subtle—perhaps too subtle?—with its recommendations, allowing color choices and slight variations in band width to stand in for serving quantities. It's also unclear whether the distant objects—nuts, an ap

Although Australia also has a food wheel, this apple jigsaw is the centerpiece of its "Food for Health: Dietary Guidelines for Australians" poster. Only fruit and vege

Britain is one of several countries (including The Netherlands and Norway) that presents its dietary guidelines in a circular shape. The Eat Well Plate focuses on proportions at a single meal, rather than servings over the course of the day, and says

For a country where three out of every 10 people are classified by the World Food Program as chronically food insecure, Haiti's dietary guidelines are a masterpiece of clarity and good sense. The simple