According to a new study that examined the eating habits of Canadians from coast to coast, some pretty interesting facts on nutrition, healthy eating, and attitude were revealed this week. The NDP Group’s HealthTrack Canada, which tracks Canadians’ attitudes about health and diet, captures ailments, medical conditions, body mass index, and provides an overall assessment of personal health. As an example, when planning meals, consumers in Ontario apparently show greater interest with nutrition compared to other regions. They may show the greatest interest, but overweight and obesity rates are still the lowest in Quebec. In fact, the info about Atlantic Canadians was just as interesting and concerning. Consumers in Atlantic Canada are apparently the most cautious about serving foods with sodium and saturated fat, try to consume more foods with fibre, fruit and vegetables, and keep an eye on their cholesterol, but the country’s obesity rates are highest right here at home in NL. So somehow we appear to be quite conscious about the food decisions we make, but given our past and present weight history it doesn’t seem to translate down to our plates or our waists.
“Interestingly,
households from the Atlantic region are the most conscious of the calories they
consume, but struggle with obesity and, as a result, are the most likely to
want to lose weight,” said Joel Gregoire, food industry analyst at The NPD
Group and author of Eating Patterns in Canada. “That being said, these
provinces recognize that there is room to improve their eating habits, but
lower access levels to store-fresh fruits and vegetables might be a
contributing factor in their struggle to make smarter food choices.”
Not
surprisingly, we (Atlantic Canada) did score low on the report card for
including many nutritious foods, when being compared to other provinces. Fruit,
the country’s top snack food, is less commonly eaten as such in the Atlantic provinces,
despite our best intentions. In terms of a percentage of meals that included
store bought fresh veggies, we tender to include fewer too. Despite being
surrounded by water and an abundance of seafood, we eat fish and seafood in
meals at home at levels comparable to the rest of the country. I’m giving us an
F in not just foods we consume, but our meal frequency too. Atlantic Canadians
have the most skipped meals at a whopping 100 meals/year average! When you
think about it, that’s just about a skipped meal every three to four days.
Why these
differences between Atlantic and the rest of Canada? I had an opportunity to
interview Gregoire, and the answer he says is to do with age. ‘When you look at
the median age going east to west, people get younger and younger. We are also
more concerned with health as we age and as we get older we are more concerned
with food nutrients like sodium, trans fat and sugar.’ He also mentions a very
true and good point: people are creatures of habit and habits are the driving
force behind what we eat. Habits of skipping meals, not much fruit or veg are certainly
not good habits however. They’re the kind of habits which over time cause
bigger bellies and bigger health problems.
Perhaps we
could learn a habit or two from our lean French neighbours. Both the eating
habits and the health outcomes are contrasting in eastern Canada, where French
Canadians are more likely to satisfy their cravings more readily at meal time
in comparison to us. Quebec natives are also less likely to skip breakfast,
lunch and dinner, and don’t deny themselves the foods they enjoy most- not only
do they have the leanest weights, but they also indulge in desserts most
commonly (42 per cent more than the national average)!
As seen in The Telegram April 1, 2013
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