Rather than throwing themselves into unrealistic diets or allowing their weight to creep continuously upward, Americans should first focus on maintaining their current weight while increasing physical activity, suggests a panel of the nation's leading nutrition experts. "If people are at least at a weight they can maintain, that's much healthier than constantly losing and regaining weight," says nutritionist Barbara Schneeman, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis. Schneeman was a member of the 11-person advisory committee charged with determining if, in light of new scientific findings, federal dietary guidelines should be revised. Those guidelines serve as the basis for national nutrition education. The panel recommended in its recent report to the U.S. departments of agriculture, and health and human services that the guidelines direct individuals to balance the food they eat with physical activity in order to maintain or improve their weight. "We are building on the concept that many Americans aren't maintaining a healthy weight," said Schneeman, who is an authority on the role of fiber in the diet. "If they do choose to lose weight, we're suggesting that they start by trying to drop only 5 percent or 10 percent of their weight." Other changes recommended from the 1990 edition of the booklet "Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines For Americans" include: • increased emphasis on consumption of grains, fruits and vegetables. This recommendation is increasingly supported by research evidence and also is highlighted in the Food Pyramid, a graphic illustration of a healthy diet that appears on many food packages. • new listings of foods that contain high amounts of key nutrients such as calcium, iron, carotenoids, folate and potassium. Recent studies have underscored especially the importance of folate in decreasing the risk of birth defects. • a less negative position than the 1990 guidelines on salt, sugar and alcohol that urges moderation. • new recommendations for vegetarians on factors to consider in order to obtain the nutrients they need from a meat-free diet. • omission of medical advice, such as desirable levels of blood cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose, since the guidelines are to deal specifically with dietary issues. In other recommendations, the committee suggested that a separate set of dietary guidelines be developed and published for children under the age of 2 years. "One of our public health concerns is that parents might try to apply the existing dietary guidelines to infants and toddlers, and they are not at all appropriate for such young children," Schneeman said. The advisory committee also suggested that distribution of the Dietary Guidelines be improved to make the booklet readily accessible to health professionals and consumers. First published in 1980, the dietary guidelines are developed by the advisory committee of nutrition and medical experts, who meet every 5 years to review research findings and revise the guidelines accordingly.