Canada's Food Guide (French: Guide alimentaire canadien) is a nutrition guide produced by Health Canada. In 2007, it was reported to be the second most requested Canadian government publication, behind the Income Tax Forms. [1] The Health Canada website states: "Food guides are basic education tools that are designed to help people follow a healthy diet." [2]
Canada's first food guide was introduced in 1942 to provide guidance to Canadians on proper nutrition during a period of time when wartime rations were common. The 1942 version was called the Official Food Rules. The guide identified six food groups: Milk; Fruit; Vegetables; Cereals and Breads; Meat, Fish, etc.; and Eggs. [2]
In 1944 the guide was revised and renamed Canada's Food Rules. The Meat and Fish group was expanded to include cheese and eggs, and a recommendation was added to use iodized salt. [2]
In 1949, the Guide was amended based on the feedback from teachers, who had been using this as a resource in primary school. The five food groups were kept; the reference to butter, which had been incorporated into the section on Breads and Cereals in 1944, grew to include "or fortified margarine", [2] an engineered spread which was by that date manufactured from vegetable oils due to wartime shortages of tallow and lard. Vitamin D supplements, available from sources such as cod liver oil, were recommended for the first time. [2]
In 1961, the guidelines were revised and renamed to Canada's Food Guide, instead of "Rules". The emphasis on whole grain remained. Milk needs of expectant and nursing mothers were underlined, and citrus fruit made its debut because it was available in stores for the first time as developments in highways and trucks allowed for their transport from Florida to the Canadian market. [2]
The change from five to four food groups was seen in the 1977 Guide when "fruits and vegetables" became a single group. Daily potatoes were no longer recommended. The metric system was employed for the first time. The Canada's Food Guide Handbook made its first appearance. [2]
The 1982 version of the Guide issued a warning to Canadians about the relationship of diet and heart disease, as the Report of the Committee on Diet and Cardiovascular Disease made its impact:
After reviewing the information available on the relationship between diet and cardiovascular disease, [the committee] believes that there is an adequate basis for recommending changes in the Canadian diet. [2]
In 1992, the name evolved to Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating. A "rainbow graphic" replaced the circular pie-chart graphic that had been favoured since 1977. The four groups were renamed: Meat and Alternatives, Grain Products, Vegetables and Fruit, and Milk Products. A fifth group of "Other Foods" made its appearance overleaf. A change in philosophy was noted too: whereas previous food guides had been based on a "foundation diet", whereby diet was identified with "minimum requirements" and those persons with "higher needs" were instructed to consume more food, the 1992 guide identified a "total diet" approach, under which the range of "different ages, body sizes, activity levels, genders and conditions such as pregnancy and nursing" theoretically were accommodated, and with the caveat "that energy needs vary". The consumer was subtly prodded to increase their consumption of grain products while they minimised their consumption of meat products, through the suggestive "rainbow" that was in reality an areal subterfuge. The consultative process to develop the 1992 guide was novel to bureaucrats who formerly had used a hierarchical approach: "information was assembled from experts, consumers, literature reviews, food consumption surveys, consumer research, and commissioned scientific reviews". A 16-page booklet was developed in addition to the recto-verso poster that had been issued in former years. A food guide in both official languages was produced and for the first time made available via the internet. A "Food Guide Facts - Background for Educators and Communicators" booklet was intended to help teachers plan their classes. [2]
The year 2007 saw for the first time an ethnoculturally specific Guide: the Food Guide for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people was introduced. The name of the main guide evolved to Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide. The guide expanded to six pages in a fold-out pamphlet, with new content addressing the multicultural population of Canada. Obesity was recognized as a dietary problem. The Milk Products group became known as the Milk and Alternatives group, as "fortified soy beverage" was officially introduced to accommodate "non-milk drinkers". A guidance to reduce consumption of trans fats and replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats was identified. Instead of the cod-liver oil of days gone by, Canadians over 50 years of age were now invited to consume vitamin D dietary supplements. The choice of healthy foods was linked to the food label. Nine age and sex groups were identified for specific recommendations. "Three Advisory Groups provided guidance and advice throughout the revision process – the DRI Expert Advisory Committee, an Interdepartmental Working Group and the Food Guide Advisory Committee". An "extensive consultation with a range of stakeholders regarding the 1992 Food Guide" was duly noted. The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) tool from the American Institute of Medicine was introduced to the Canadian taxpayer. [2]
Canada's Food Guide was updated and released to the general public in January 2019. Unlike previous food guides' emphasis on food groups and recommended servings, the 2019 revision from Health Canada recommends eating "plenty of vegetables and fruits, whole grain foods and protein foods. Choose protein foods that come from plants more often." The guide was prepared using scientific reports on food and health, excluding industry-commissioned reports given the potential for conflicts of interest, according to Health Canada. [3]
The Guide recommends eating a variety of healthy foods each day including plenty of vegetables and fruits, protein foods, and whole grain foods. It recommends choosing protein foods that come from plants more often. It also recommends limiting highly processed foods.
The Guide recommends making water one's drink of choice. It is a calorie-free, fat-free, sugar-free thirst quencher that is essential to the body's metabolic functions. Consumption of water should increase with temperature or an individual's physical activity. The Guide also recommends avoiding beverages with added sugar or fat. Caffeinated beverages, fruit juices, and energy drinks should only be consumed in moderation.
The Guide also recommends the following behaviors related to food: [4]
In the past, Canada's Food Guide outlined how much of each specific food is equal to one serving and recommended eating a specific number of serving sizes across each of the four food groups. In 2019, this approach was updated to show a proportional plate. Instead of specific servings, the plate shows 50% of calories coming from vegetables and fruits, 25% of calories from whole grain foods, and 25% of calories from protein foods. [5]
A food pyramid is a representation of the optimal number of servings to be eaten each day from each of the basic food groups. The first pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974. The 1992 pyramid introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was called the "Food Guide Pyramid" or "Eating Right Pyramid". It was updated in 2005 to "MyPyramid", and then it was replaced by "MyPlate" in 2011.
A plant-based diet is a diet consisting mostly or entirely of plant-based foods. Plant-based diets encompass a wide range of dietary patterns that contain low amounts of animal products and high amounts of fiber-rich plant products such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. They do not need to be vegan or vegetarian, but are defined in terms of low frequency of animal food consumption.
The Healthy Eating Pyramid is a nutrition guide developed by the Harvard School of Public Health, suggesting quantities of each food category that a human should eat each day. The healthy eating pyramid is intended to provide a more sound eating guide than the widespread food guide pyramid created by the USDA.
A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.
Food groups categorise foods for educational purposes, usually grouping together foods with similar nutritional properties or biological classifications. Food groups are often used in nutrition guides, although the number of groups used can vary widely.
The National Heart Foundation of Australia is a charity established in 1959. Its activities have been funding cardiovascular research, supporting health professionals in their practice, developing health promotion activities, informing and educating the public and assisting people with cardiovascular disease. It describes its mission as "to reduce heart disease and improve the heart health and quality of life of all Australians through our work in Risk Reduction, Support, Care and Research."
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension or the DASH diet is a diet to control hypertension promoted by the U.S.-based National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The DASH diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods. It includes meat, fish, poultry, nuts, and beans, and is limited in sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, red meat, and added fats. In addition to its effect on blood pressure, it is designed to be a well-balanced approach to eating for the general public. DASH is recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a healthy eating plan. The DASH diet is one of three healthy diets recommended in the 2015–20 U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which also include the Mediterranean diet and a vegetarian diet. The American Heart Association (AHA) considers the DASH diet "specific and well-documented across age, sex and ethnically diverse groups."
Vegetarian Diet Pyramid is a nutrition guide that represents a traditional healthy vegetarian diet. Variations of this traditional healthy vegetarian diet exist throughout the world, particularly in parts of North America, Europe, South America and, most notably, Asia. Given these carefully defined parameters, the phrase "Traditional Vegetarian Diet" is used here to represent the healthy traditional ovo-lacto vegetarian diets of these regions and peoples. A pyramid was created by Oldways Preservation Trust in 1998 with scientific research from Cornell and Harvard University and specific reference to the healthy patterns of eating demonstrated by the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid.
The Western pattern diet is a modern dietary pattern that is generally characterized by high intakes of pre-packaged foods, refined grains, red meat, processed meat, high-sugar drinks, candy and sweets, fried foods, industrially produced animal products, butter and other high-fat dairy products, eggs, potatoes, corn, and low intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, pasture-raised animal products, fish, nuts, and seeds.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provide nutritional advice for Americans who are healthy or who are at risk for chronic disease but do not currently have chronic disease. The Guidelines are published every five years by the US Department of Agriculture, together with the US Department of Health and Human Services. Notably, the most recent ninth edition for 2020–25 includes dietary guidelines for children from birth to 23 months. In addition to the Dietary Guidelines per se, there are additional tools for assessing diet and nutrition, including the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), which can be used to assess the quality of a given selection of foods in the context of the Dietary Guidelines. Also provided are additional explanations regarding customization of the Guidelines to individual eating preferences, application of the Guidelines during pregnancy and infancy, the USDA Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review, information about the Nutrition Communicators Network and the MyPlate initiative, information from the National Academies about redesigning the process by which the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are created, and information about dietary guidelines from other nations.
Fruits & Veggies – More Matters is a national public health initiative from Produce for Better Health Foundation and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables. This campaign, begun in 2007, took the place of the 5 A Day program. The shift was implemented in order to better communicate updated dietary guidelines, which recommended more than five servings of fruits and vegetables for some Americans.
A health claim found on a food labels and in food marketing is a claim by a food manufacturer that their product will reduce the risk of developing a disease or condition.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 is a federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 13, 2010. The law is part of the reauthorization of funding for child nutrition. It funded child nutrition programs and free lunch programs in schools for 5 years. In addition, the law set new nutrition standards for schools, and allocated $4.5 billion for their implementation. The new nutrition standards were a centerpiece of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative to combat childhood obesity. In FY 2011, federal spending totaled $10.1 billion for the National School Lunch Program. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act allows USDA, for the first time in 30 years, opportunity to make real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children. Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and Michelle Obama were a step in transforming the food pyramid recommendation, which has been around since the early 1990s, into what is now known as "MyPlate".
MyPyramid, released by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion on April 19, 2005, was an update on the earlier American food guide pyramid. It was used until June 2, 2011, when the USDA's MyPlate replaced it. The icon stresses activity and moderation along with a proper mix of food groups in one's diet. As part of the MyPyramid food guidance system, consumers were asked to visit the MyPyramid website for personalized nutrition information. Significant changes from the previous food pyramid include:
MyPlate is the current nutrition guide published by the United States Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, and serves as a recommendation based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It replaced the USDA's MyPyramid guide on June 2, 2011, ending 19 years of USDA food pyramid diagrams. MyPlate is displayed on food packaging and used in nutrition education in the United States. The graphic depicts a place setting with a plate and glass divided into five food groups that are recommended parts of a healthy diet. This dietary recommendation combines an organized amount of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. It is designed as a guideline for Americans to base their plate around in order to make educated food choices. ChooseMyPlate.gov shows individuals the variety of these five subgroups based on their activity levels and personal characteristics.
The history of USDA nutrition guidelines includes over 100 years of nutrition advice promulgated by the USDA. The guidelines have been updated over time, to adopt new scientific findings and new public health marketing techniques. The current guidelines are the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025. The 2015–2020 guidelines were criticized as not accurately representing scientific information about optimal nutrition, and as being overly influenced by the agricultural industries the USDA promotes.
Toddler nutrition is the description of the dietary needs of toddlers aged one to two years old. Food provides the energy and nutrients that toddlers need to be healthy. An adequate intake in nutrient rich food is good nutrition. A diet lacking essential calories, minerals, fluid and vitamins could be considered 'bad' nutrition. Nutrition needs are different for toddlers. For a baby, breast milk is "best" and it has all the necessary vitamins and minerals. Toddlers typically have been weaned from breast milk and infant formula. Though infants usually start eating solid foods between 4 and 6 months of age, more and more solid foods are consumed by a growing toddler. If a food introduced one at a time, a potential allergen can be identified. Food provides the energy and nutrients that young children need to be healthy. Toddlers are learning to feed themselves and to eat new foods. They should eat a variety of foods from all the food groups. Each day, toddlers need enough nutrients, including
The planetary health diet, also called a planetary diet or planetarian diet, is a flexitarian diet created by the EAT-Lancet commission as part of a report released in The Lancet on 16 January 2019. The aim of the report and the diet it developed is to create dietary paradigms that have the following aims:
Japanese-style diet （にほんがたしょくせいかつ）is a unique dietary lifestyle influenced by traditional Japanese eating habits that center around rice as the staple food, along with vegetables, soybeans, fish, and seaweed. It avoids excessive consumption of animal fats, salt, and sugar. This concept was first proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in 1980 and advocated in 1983. Opinions suggesting that overly refined rice is undesirable were ultimately not included in the final proposal. Similar guidelines were established in the Dietary Guidelines of 1985, which have been revised about every 15 years.