Skip to main content
California Department of Education Logo

Foundations of Nutrition: Dietary Guidelines

The School Nutrition Program Foundations of Nutrition: 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans online training.

Course Description

Discover the purpose of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and how the key recommendations help Americans create a healthy diet and active lifestyle. Participants will gain an understanding of the guidelines and access lessons and resources to put these guidelines into action in the classroom.

  • Course Number: 173
  • Training Length: 30 minutes
  • Certificate: Available at the end of the training
  • Target Audience: Food Service Director and Staff
  • Mandatory: No
  • Cost: Free
  • Date Recorded: August 2022

Online Course

Begin the Foundations of Nutrition: 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans course.

Referenced Resources

The following resources are referred to throughout this online course:

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans External link opens in new window or tab. provides an Executive Summary, four overarching Guidelines, and Key Recommendations that provide further guidance on healthy eating across the lifespan.

Crediting

  • Crediting: 0.25 hours
  • Key Area: Nutrition (1000)
    • Training Topic: General Nutrition (1300)
      • Learning Objective: Dietary Guidelines for Americans (1310)

For more information on crediting, access the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) web document Professional Standards Learning Objectives External link opens in new window or tab. (PDF).

Additional Information

For more information about nutrition education training and resources, visit the California Department of Education (CDE) Healthy Eating and Nutrition Education web page.

  • Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans External link opens in new window or tab. provides information about the federal government’s 2008 physical activity guidelines for Americans.

  • CDE Nutrition Education Resource Guide(PDF) provides an instructional resource for California schools, from kindergarten through twelfth grade, to implement effective, standards-based nutrition education programs for students. The guide was designed to (1) meet the Health Education Content Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (CDE 2008) in the Nutrition and Physical Activity content areas; and (2) address the nutrition competencies. Educators may use it as a resource to plan, implement, and evaluate instructional strategies for a comprehensive nutrition education program (CDE 2017).

Contact Us

If you have any questions, please contact the California Department of Education Nutrition Services Division by phone at 800-952-5609 or email your School Nutrition Program questions to SNPinfo@cde.ca.gov.

Questions:   Nutrition Services Division | 800-952-5609
Last Reviewed: Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Related Content
Recently Posted in Nutrition
  • New Legislation Regarding Ultraprocessed Food (added 13-Oct-2025)
    This page announces the signing of Assembly Bill (AB) 1264 and announces a webinar that provides an overview of AB 1264, explores implementation strategies, and presents current research and policy approaches to reduce UPF consumption among students.
  • LMS Account Setup & Site Overview Webinars (added 13-Oct-2025)
    This new learning management system will be used as the primary venue for delivering training content to satisfy your annual mandatory training hours for Professional Standards and beyond.
  • October Celebrations 2025 (added 08-Oct-2025)
    Encouragement for program operators to participate in any of the following special occasions: National Farm to School Month, California Crunch Day, National School Lunch Week, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and National Farmer Day.
  • SUN Bucks Reminder - EDCS Data Accuracy (added 08-Oct-2025)
    Reminder about ensuring data accuracy in Education Data Collection System (EDCS) submissions.
  • CNAC Minutes for the April 30, 2025 Meeting (added 08-Oct-2025)
    Meeting minutes for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Child Nutrition Advisory Council (CNAC) on April 30, 2025.