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Healthy Choices: Healthy Foods

The Canada Food Guide recommends that children between the ages of 2 and 13, based on their age, should be getting the following number of servings a day from the four food groups:

  1. 4-6 servings of fruits and vegetables;
  2. 3-6 servings of grain products;
  3. 2-4 servings of milk and milk alternatives; and
  4. 1-2 servings of meat and meat alternatives a day.

Youth between the ages of 14 and 18, based on their age and gender, should be getting the following number of servings a day from the four food groups:

  1. 7-8 servings of fruits and vegetables;
  2. 6-7 servings of grain products;
  3. 3-4 servings of milk and milk alternatives; and
  4. 2-3 servings of meat and meat alternatives.

Note that:

  1. 1 serving of fruits and vegetables = 125mL = half a cup.
  2. 1 serving of grain products = 125mL = half a cup.
  3. 1 serving of milk and milk alternatives = 250 mL = a cup.
  4. 1 serving of meat and meat alternatives = 75 g.

However, the 2004 cycle of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) found that 59% of Canadian children and youth were eating less than 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Additionally, this cycle of the CCHS found that 29% of children and youth who eat less than 3 servings of fruits and vegetables a day are overweight or obese. Findings from the 2006 cycle of the CCHS indicated that children and youth who eat more than 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day are much less likely to be overweight or obese in comparison to children and youth who eat fewer servings of fruits and vegetables.

The 2003 Eating, Physical Activity and Body Weight in Canadian Children and Youth report released by the Dietitians of Canada found the following alarming trends:

  1. Children and youth of all ages across the country are not getting the recommended daily intake of important nutrients.
  2. Many children and youth are not eating breakfast, which is considered to be the most important meal of the day
  3. Families are depending on fast foods and eating in restaurants more often, and children and youth are drinking more soft drinks than before.

These trends, along with the tendency not to meet the recommended servings of healthy foods in each of the four food groups, have many serious and negative impacts on the health of children and youth. Some of these impacts include:

  1. A sharp rise in overweight and obesity amongst children and youth across the country;
  2. Children and youth feeling as if they are constantly tired and unable to perform daily activities;
  3. Bone and dental health problems;
  4. Poor academic performance.

People can encounter a number of difficulties that people encounter when trying to eat healthy, including: poor access to low-cost, healthy foods; no time to buy healthy foods; lack of knowledge about how to prepare healthy foods.

There are a number of ways to improve healthy eating such as:

  1. Encourage children and youth make healthier food choices. For example, you could:
    1. Get children and youth to keep daily logs of what they are eating and drinking.
    2. Hold an ‘Eat Less Junk Food Week’ and get children and youth to try healthier snacks
  2. Educate families about how to choose and prepare healthy foods. For example, you could:
    1. Have community garden plots available for families to grow their own fruits and vegetables.
    2. Host free or low-cost healthy cooking workshops at the local community centre
  3. Involve local businesses and employers in promoting healthy eating. For example, you could:
    1. Put up posters with healthy eating messages in local businesses and employment sites that are accessed by children and youth.
    2. Hold an employee ‘Healthy Eating Recipe Contest’ where employees can submit healthy family recipes.

For more information on healthy eating in children and youth, and how to improve healthy eating in children and youth, check out the following links:

Health Canada, Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide
Dietitians of Canada, Backgrounder Document for Eat Well, Play Well
Heart & Stroke Foundation, Healthy Eating
Canadian Pediatric Society, Caring for Kids, Healthy Bodies

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