Research on Healthy Eating

Background

In order to effectively promote and support healthy eating among Canadians, the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion is engaging in efforts to better understand the factors that influence eating behaviours and practices.

Project Update

Determinants of Healthy Eating

In the Winter of 2001, the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion undertook a project to obtain an initial picture of major gaps in the knowledge base concerning the determinants of healthy eating, and the effectiveness of policy and program interventions to promote and support healthy eating. Through a series of key informant interviews, insights on this issue were offered by 52 individuals including Health Canada staff, nutrition researchers, provincial and territorial government representatives, nutrition practitioners, and representatives of non-government organizations. Promotion and Support of Healthy Eating: An initial Overview of Knowledge Gaps and Research Needs presents the key findings of this work. These findings are intended as a starting point for future collaborative work to develop a healthy eating research agenda by Health Canada and other government partners, appropriate research funding bodies, researchers and practitioners.

Synthesis Papers

Building on recommendations from the key informant interviews, we engaged in a process to synthesize what is known about the determinants of healthy eating, including individual and collective factors. In 2003 - 2004, eight prominent Canadian researchers in applied nutrition, health promotion, and/or population health were engaged as authors of a series of synthesis papers. Using the population health model as a basis and focussing on different population sub-groups and issue areas, six papers were written. Each paper summarizes the existing literature, identifies gaps in knowledge and offers recommendations for research to enhance the evidence base on the determinants of healthy eating. The papers include:

Paquette M-C. Perceptions of Healthy Eating: State of Knowledge and Research Gaps.

Payette H., Shatenstein B. Determinants of Healthy Eating in Canadian Seniors.

Power E.M. The Determinants of Healthy Eating Among Low-income Canadians. Scoping Paper.

Polivy J., Herman C.P. The Bi-directional Relation Between Mental Health and Eating Behaviours.

Taylor J. Determinants of Healthy Eating Among Canadian Children and Youth. Scoping Paper.

Willows N. Determinants of Healthy Eating in Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: The Current State of Knowledge and Research Gaps.

A series of summary articles based on each of the papers is included in a supplement to the July/August 2005 issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health (CJPH), Understanding the Forces That Influence Our Eating Habits: What We Know and Need to Know.

Electronic versions of the original papers are available upon request from Health Canada by e-mailing healthy_eating@hc-sc.gc.ca.

Consumer Research

Qualitative and quantitative research has recently been conducted to explore consumers' understanding of and attitudes toward nutrition. In support of efforts underway regarding the Review of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating, the research also explored top-of-mind awareness and perceptions of the Food Guide. Summary reports of both the qualitative and quantitative research are now available. Also available is a report that relates consumers' perceptions of healthy eating to the Food Guide's main concepts, including variety, balance and moderation.

Building Research Capacity:
Pilot Project with Ryerson University School of Nutrition

In the Winter of 2001, the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion undertook a project to identify major gaps in knowledge concerning the determinants of healthy eating, and the effectiveness of policy and program interventions to promote and support healthy eating. The project identified important knowledge gaps and research needs in Canada. A limited research capacity was also highlighted as a major barrier to advancing and applying knowledge about how to promote and support healthy eating. Another key finding of the project was that Canada has a significant shortage of applied community nutrition researchers. The need for deliberate strategies and supports to build nutrition research capacity was identified, starting at the undergraduate level and continuing to the graduate and postgraduate level.

Being committed to supporting capacity-building in the nutrition field in Canada, the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion undertook a pilot project with the School of Nutrition at Ryerson University in the Winter of 2003. The School of Nutrition offers a four-year Bachelor of Applied Science program designed to prepare food and nutrition graduates for diverse professional careers. The program is accredited by Dietitians of Canada. Students take several courses on research methods, including Advanced Research Methods in their third year, which integrates research methods and statistical analysis. Working in teams under the guidance of faculty members, students complete a research project, including undertaking a literature review, secondary data analysis, and writing a research paper highlighting results and discussing implications. Critical reflection of the research process and a greater understanding of the data analysis process are central to this course.

During the Winter 2003 offering of this course, the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion worked closely with the course instructors to help students learn about data sources related to food and nutrition in Canada, and to help provide them with access to various datasets. The students worked with data from the National Population Health Survey (NPHS), the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) and the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. Topics of study varied from food insecurity among elderly Canadians, food insecurity and the risk of becoming overweight in women, community size and breastfeeding duration rates, peer influence on physical activity in children, and perception of body weight and health risk behaviour in adolescents. On completion of the course, some groups of students continued to work on their reports, developing manuscripts to be submitted for publishing, which will ultimately add to the Canadian knowledge base on healthy eating.

In the hopes of narrowing the gap of knowledge available, the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion will continue to work in partnership with Ryerson University in 2003-2004, welcoming the opportunity to help introduce students to the field of applied nutrition research.