The food pyramid seemed to reflect what people ate, not what people should eat. Most people eat more carbs than protein, becuase meat, fish, and dairy are more

The food pyramid seemed to reflect what people ate, not what people should eat. Most people eat more carbs than protein, becuase meat, fish, and dairy are more expensive than cereal and bread. Obviously sugar was at the top. Vegetables and fruits were important, but you just couldn't get as many as carbs because again, they were expensive. It seemed to work so that was the pyramid. I'm not sure they did studies comparing different diets to arrive at that conclusion, I think it was just "common sense" nutrition.