TY - JOUR
T1 - Health behaviours and awareness of Canada's food guide
T2 - A population-based study
AU - Mathe, Nonsikelelo
AU - Agborsangaya, Calypse B.
AU - Loitz, Christina C.
AU - Johnson, Jeffrey A.
AU - Johnson, Steven T.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Dietitians of Canada. All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/6
Y1 - 2016/6
N2 - Purpose: Lifestyle behaviours among adults reporting awareness of Canada's Food Guide (CFG) are described. Methods: Data from a cross-sectional survey of adults from Alberta were used to estimate the prevalence of reported health behaviours among respondents aware of the CFG. Results: Respondents (n = 1044) reported general awareness of CFG (mean age 50.3 years; 54.2% female) of whom 82.2% reported awareness of specific CFG recommendations. Respondents reported frequently reading food labels (>58.0%), reading the number of calories (45.5%), the amount of sodium (49.5%), the amount of fat (46.7%), and the type of fat (45.5%) on the food label. Most respondents (90.0%) reported frequently selecting foods to promote health. Approximately one-third of the respondents (35.8%) reported frequently consuming ≥5 portions of vegetables and fruit per day and regularly participating in physical activity (55.3%). Body weight was perceived as healthy by 63.4% of the respondents. Most engaged in 2 health behaviours frequently. Adjusting for important sociodemographic characteristics, those who reported frequently consuming ≥5 portions of vegetables and fruit per day were more likely to engage in a second health behaviour outlined in CGF (OR: 23.6, 95% CI (16.2-34.4)). Conclusion: Awareness of CFG did not translate to positive health behaviours. More proactive population level strategies to support specific health behaviours as outlined in CFG might be warranted.
AB - Purpose: Lifestyle behaviours among adults reporting awareness of Canada's Food Guide (CFG) are described. Methods: Data from a cross-sectional survey of adults from Alberta were used to estimate the prevalence of reported health behaviours among respondents aware of the CFG. Results: Respondents (n = 1044) reported general awareness of CFG (mean age 50.3 years; 54.2% female) of whom 82.2% reported awareness of specific CFG recommendations. Respondents reported frequently reading food labels (>58.0%), reading the number of calories (45.5%), the amount of sodium (49.5%), the amount of fat (46.7%), and the type of fat (45.5%) on the food label. Most respondents (90.0%) reported frequently selecting foods to promote health. Approximately one-third of the respondents (35.8%) reported frequently consuming ≥5 portions of vegetables and fruit per day and regularly participating in physical activity (55.3%). Body weight was perceived as healthy by 63.4% of the respondents. Most engaged in 2 health behaviours frequently. Adjusting for important sociodemographic characteristics, those who reported frequently consuming ≥5 portions of vegetables and fruit per day were more likely to engage in a second health behaviour outlined in CGF (OR: 23.6, 95% CI (16.2-34.4)). Conclusion: Awareness of CFG did not translate to positive health behaviours. More proactive population level strategies to support specific health behaviours as outlined in CFG might be warranted.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84969981148&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3148/cjdpr-2015-044
DO - 10.3148/cjdpr-2015-044
M3 - Journal Article
C2 - 26771539
AN - SCOPUS:84969981148
SN - 1486-3847
VL - 77
SP - 66
EP - 71
JO - Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
JF - Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
IS - 2
ER -