Systematic Reviews for the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee
Systematic reviews are one of three approaches that the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee used to review current scientific evidence. The USDA’s Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review (NESR) team supported the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee in conducting original systematic reviews. Detailed information about the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and their report can be found at DietaryGuidelines.gov.
The NESR team used our rigorous, protocol-driven methodology to support the 2020 Advisory Committee in conducting systematic reviews. NESR’s general methodology for answering a systematic review question involves:
- developing a protocol,
- searching for and selecting articles,
- extracting data and assessing the risk of bias of results from each included article,
- synthesizing the evidence,
- developing conclusion statements,
- grading the evidence underlying each conclusion statement, and
- recommending future research.
General information about NESR’s methodology can be found on our Methodology page. A detailed description of NESR’s systematic review methodology used in supporting the 2020 Advisory Committee can be downloaded at the link below.
The Committee’s systematic reviews were organized by topic area subcommittee. The systematic reviews led by each subcommittee can be accessed below.
The NESR team who supported the 2020 Advisory Committee are scientists from the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) who have expertise in systematic review methodology and in nutrition science, dietetics, and public health. In addition, a number of Federal nutritionists also provided assistance to NESR and the Committee. A list of the staff who supported the Committee’s work can be found at the link below.