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Purpose: We aimed to determine if adherence to established Canadian, American, and WHO-developed nutrition recommendations supported children’s academic achievement.Methods: Data from a health survey of 1595 grade 5 students in Alberta, Canada, was used. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Adherence to recommendations for food group servings, saturated fat intake, and free sugars intake was assessed. Survey data were linked to grade 6 standardized exam results. Multivariable mixed effects linear regression models were employed to assess the association between adherence to recommendations and academic achievement.Results: Boys who met current recommendations for free sugars scored on average 5.67% better on exams (β: 5.67; 95% CI: 3.14, 8.29). Boys who met recommendations for milk and alternatives scored 3.45% better on exams (β: 3.45; 95% CI: 0.67, 6.23). Though results indicated that adhering to dietary recommendations was beneficial for girls’ academic achievement, no result was statistically significant.Conclusions: Adherence to current dietary recommendations has benefits for children’s academic achievement. This evidence may be used to inform continued development and promotion of dietary recommendations and to support school-based nutrition initiatives.

Researchers have found support for an inverse association between diet quality and depressive symptoms in middle-aged adults. This association has not been well examined among university students, a population at risk of developing both depression and unhealthy lifestyle habits. We sought to examine the cross-sectional association between depressive symptoms and diet quality in female university students. One hundred and forty-one females (19.1 ± 1.5 years, 22.3 ± 3.4 kg/m²) were recruited from a Canadian university in 2012 and 2013. Dietary intake data were collected using 3-day food records and analysed using the Canadian Healthy Eating Index. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results of a linear regression demonstrated an inverse association between depressive symptoms and diet quality score (β = −0.016, 95% CI = −0.029 to −0.003, P = 0.017). Elevated depressive symptoms were associated with consumption of diets of poor nutritional quality in our female university student sample. Thus, healthy eating may correspond with lower levels of depression in young adult females.

Purpose: In Ontario, group programs to increase mindfulness of food choices are provided in Family Health Teams (FHTs), but evaluation is limited. We targeted patients with chronic conditions that could benefit from intensified management and evaluated an existing program.Methods: We included 3 FHTs. Patients were randomized to immediate participation in the intervention (n = 16) or to wait-list control (n = 14). Eligible participants were between 40 and 70 years old, living with diabetes and/or hypertension and had at least 2 of: elevated cholesterol (LDL >4 if hypertension or LDL >2 mmol/L if diabetes), blood sugar (A1c >7.5%), or blood pressure (systolic BP >140). The intervention was a 6-week group program of 2-hour weekly sessions addressing mindfulness of food choices facilitated by a trained dietitian and social worker. We used the Emotional Eating Questionnaire (EEQ) a validated 10-item questionnaire measuring the degree of interaction between food intake and emotion. The primary outcome was change in the EEQ over 6 weeks.Results: There was no difference in the change in EEQ in either unadjusted (P = 0.4) or adjusted (P = 0.3) analysis.Conclusions: We found no effect for this intervention, although the small sample size limits interpretation. The results were contrary to what was expected.

Why are you a dietitian doing what you do? Although we absolutely must keep food central in our conversations about nutritional well-being, our work is rarely ever about food alone. There’s always so much more than meets the eye. Reflecting on an entrepreneurial path over 3 decades, the meaning of it all became clearer with each role. Patricia shares perspective on how the more deeply we understand this “thing”, the more success we’ll have. It’s crucial to our effectiveness as communicators, counsellors, colleagues, and citizens of the world. To truly make a meaningful difference and have a tremendously positive impact on the health of Canadians, we must talk about it.

St John’s, Newfoundland was the host city of the 2017 Dietitians of Canada Annual Conference.Through the support of Dietitians of Canada and CFDR, the 2017 event was both an exciting and informative exchange of research and experience-sharing efforts that inspired attendees. The submissions for this year’s Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research (CFDR) event represented the diversity of dietetic research conducted within Canada. The topics highlighted from this year’s abstracts included: Clinical Research; Community-based Nutritional Care; Determinants of Food Choice; Dietary Intake; Dietetic Practice and Education; Food Security; Nutrition and Health Education; Nutritional Assessment and Therapy; Nutrition Attitudes; Nutrition Strategy Development Patient Services; Professional Development; Vulnerable Groups and their Nutritional Needs; and, Wellness and Public Health.Each presenter provided an 11-minute oral presentation (8 minutes for presenting and 3 minutes for questions). This allowed for meaningful interaction between the presenters and those attending the sessions. These presentations offered the newest insights into important research findings that apply to dietetic practice. Attendance at the research presentations was approximately 200 and 125 on June 9 and 10, respectively.This research event would not be possible without the commitment and dedication of many people. On behalf of DC and CFDR, we would like to extend a special thank you to members of our abstract review committee: Susan Campisi (University of Toronto); Elaine Cawadias (Dietitian, Retired); Andrea Glenn (St. Francis Xavier University); Mahsa Jessri (University of Ottawa); Jessica Lieffers (University of Alberta); and Janet Madill (Brescia College).We would also like to thank all of our moderators, Jane Bellman (DC), Pierrette Buklis (CFDR Board), Marcia Cooper (Health Canada), Jenny Gusba (CFDR Board), Brenda Hartman (Brescia College), Sarah Hewko (CFDR Board Chair), Lisa Mina (CFDR Board), Misty Rossiter (University of Prince Edward Island), Lee Rysdale (Northern Ontario School of Medicine), Pat Vanderkooy (DC), and Heather Wile (CFDR Board), who kept our research presentation sessions on time during the conference. Finally, a special thank you to Janis Randall Simpson and Michelle Naraine at CFDR for their assistance and support throughout the review process.I enjoyed interacting with many of you at the oral research presentations as we highlighted the findings from our dietetic colleagues across our country!Christina Lengyel, PhD, RDChair, 2017 Abstracts Review CommitteeAssociate ProfessorDirector of the Dietetics ProgramFoods & Human Nutritional SciencesUniversity of Manitoba