Postsecondary Students’ Knowledge of and Adherence to the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide: A Cross-sectional Pilot Survey
Publication: Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
19 September 2023
Abstract
Purpose: We conducted a pilot survey among young adults attending a suburban Canadian university to understand: (1) knowledge of the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide (CFG); (2) self-reported food choices and eating habits; (3) perceived influence of the CFG on food choices and eating habits; and (4) suggestions to improve engagement with CFG.
Methods: Students were recruited, through posts on social media platforms, to complete an online questionnaire between 7 March and 6 April 2020.
Results: One-hundred and twenty-one (70% women) students responded. One-third (33%) of women and 8% of men reported consuming the recommended proportion of vegetables and fruits (i.e., 40%–60% of the plate) at their most recent meal (P = 0.001). Men were more likely to report overconsuming protein foods than women (58% vs 32%, P = 0.005). The perceived influence of the CFG on food choices and eating habits was low, with a mean score 2.2 ± 1.4 out of 7, with 7 indicating “highly influential.” Over 92% of participants believed awareness of the CFG could be improved through social media platforms.
Conclusions: Although half of the participants correctly answered all 8 questions that assessed knowledge of the CFG, there is an opportunity for dietitians and related health professionals to improve engagement with CFG.
Résumé
Objectif. Nous avons mené une enquête pilote auprès de jeunes adultes fréquentant une université de banlieue canadienne afin de comprendre : (1) leurs connaissances du Guide alimentaire canadien (GAC) de 2019; (2) leurs choix et habitudes alimentaires autodéclarés; (3) l’influence perçue du GAC sur leurs choix et habitudes alimentaires; et (4) leurs suggestions pour améliorer l’adhésion au GAC.
Méthodes. Cent vingt et un étudiants (70 % de femmes) ont été recrutés grâce à des publications sur les médias sociaux pour remplir un questionnaire en ligne entre le 7 mars et le 6 avril 2020.
Résultats. Un tiers (33 %) des femmes et 8 % des hommes ont déclaré avoir consommé la proportion recommandée de légumes et de fruits c.-à-d. 40 % à 60 % de l’assiette) lors de leur dernier repas (P = 0,001). Les hommes étaient plus susceptibles de déclarer une surconsommation d’aliments protéinés que les femmes (58 % vs 32 %, P = 0,005). L’influence perçue du GAC sur les choix et les habitudes alimentaires était faible, avec un score moyen de 2,2 ± 1,4 sur 7, 7 signifiant « très influent ». Plus de 92 % des participants estimaient que la sensibilisation au GAC pourrait être améliorée grâce aux médias sociaux.
Conclusions. Bien que la moitié des participants aient répondu correctement aux 8 questions évaluant leurs connaissances sur les GAC, il existe une occasion pour les diététistes et les professionnels de la santé connexes d’améliorer l’adhésion au GAC.
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Conflicts of interest: RJ de Souza has served as an external resource person to the World Health Organization’s Nutrition Guidelines Advisory Group on trans fats, saturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats. The WHO paid for his travel and accommodation to attend meetings from 2012–2017 to present and discuss this work. He has presented updates of this work to the WHO in 2022. He has also done contract research for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Health Canada, and the World Health Organization for which he received remuneration. He has received speaker’s fees from the University of Toronto, and McMaster Children’s Hospital. He has held grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research, Population Health Research Institute, and Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation as a principal investigator, and is a co-investigator on several funded team grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He has served as an independent director of the Helderleigh Foundation (Canada). He serves as a member of the Nutrition Science Advisory Committee to Health Canada (Government of Canada), co-chair of the Method working group of the ADA/EASD Precision Medicine in Diabetes group, and is a co-opted member of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) Subgroup on the Framework for the Evaluation of Evidence (Public Health England).
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Published In
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
Volume 84 • Number 4 • December 2023
Pages: 242 - 246
Editor: Naomi Cahill
History
Version of record online: 19 September 2023
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© 2023.
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Heather J.ZhaoBHSc, RosainStennett, Sharon I.KirkpatrickRD, PhD, and Russell J.de SouzaRD, ScD. 2023. Postsecondary Students’ Knowledge of and Adherence to the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide: A Cross-sectional Pilot Survey. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research.
84(4): 242-246. https://doi.org/10.3148/cjdpr-2023-008
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