Examining differences in diet quality between Canadian Indigenous and non-Indigenous adults: results from the 2004 and 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey Nutrition Surveys

The new Canada’s Food Guide (CFG) recommends whole grains foods as the primary choice of grain products in the daily diet. This study examined whether higher shares of whole-grain consumption, beyond the recommended levels (i.e., above half) of the daily grain intake, are linked with optimal diet quality and intakes of some key nutrients, for both children and adolescents and adults in Canada. To meet the objective of this study, we used the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)–Nutrition 2015, which is a nationally representative data. We employed the propensity score matching (PSM) method in this study. PSM estimates the exposure effect when a set of individuals are exposed to a specific treatment (food group intake in this study) in a non-experimental setting. The results of our analyses implied that a high consumption of whole grains is associated with a good diet quality. However, after a certain level of whole-grain consumption, no significant differences can be observed in diet quality scores of children and adolescents and adults. Moreover, it was observed that the proportion of obese and overweight individuals was significantly lower among adults that had balanced intakes of whole and non-whole grains. The results of logistic regression analyses also showed the probability of being obese and overweight is significantly lower in the case of adults with balanced intakes of grains. However, no significant differences were observed in the prevalence of obesity and overweight across whole grains consumption patterns for children and adolescents.

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Early Experience Analyzing Dietary Intake Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey—Nutrition Using the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Method

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu11081908 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 1908 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Karelyn A. Davis ◽

Alejandro Gonzalez ◽

Lidia Loukine ◽

Cunye Qiao ◽

Alireza Sadeghpour ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dietary Intake ◽

Community Health ◽

Health Survey ◽

National Cancer Institute ◽

Early Experience ◽

Canadian Community Health Survey ◽

Computational Time ◽

Nutrition Surveys ◽

Community Health Survey ◽

Dietary Component

Background: One of the underpinning elements to support evidence-based decision-making in food and nutrition is the usual dietary intake of a population. It represents the long-run average consumption of a particular dietary component (i.e., food or nutrient). Variations in individual eating habits are observed from day-to-day and between individuals. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) method uses statistical modeling to account for these variations in estimation of usual intakes. This method was originally developed for nutrition survey data in the United States. The main objective of this study was to apply the NCI method in the analysis of Canadian nutrition surveys. Methods: Data from two surveys, the 2004 and 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey—Nutrition were used to estimate usual dietary intake distributions from food sources using the NCI method. The effect of different statistical considerations such as choice of the model, covariates, stratification compared to pooling, and exclusion of outliers were assessed, along with the computational time to convergence. Results: A flowchart to aid in model selection was developed. Different covariates (e.g., age/sex groups, cycle, weekday/weekend of the recall) were used to adjust the estimates of usual intakes. Moreover, larger differences in the ratio of within to between variation for a stratified analysis or a pooled analysis resulted in noticeable differences, particularly in the tails of the distribution of usual intake estimates. Outliers were subsequently removed when the ratio was larger than 10. For an individual age/sex group, the NCI method took 1 h–5 h to obtain results depending on the dietary component. Conclusion: Early experience in using the NCI method with Canadian nutrition surveys data led to the development of a flowchart to facilitate the choice of the NCI model to use. The ability of the NCI method to include covariates permits comparisons between both 2004 and 2015. This study shows that the improper application of pooling and stratification as well as the outlier detection can lead to biased results. This early experience can provide guidance to other researchers and ensures consistency in the analysis of usual dietary intake in the Canadian context.

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A temporal analysis of Canadian dietary choices using the Canadian Community Health Survey Cycle 2.2: does nutrient intake and diet quality vary on weekends versus weekdays

The FASEB Journal ◽

10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.354.5 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 27 (S1) ◽

Author(s):

Penny Hui Wen Yang ◽

Jennifer L. Black ◽

Susan I. Barr ◽

Hassan Vatanparast

Keyword(s):

Community Health ◽

Health Survey ◽

Diet Quality ◽

Nutrient Intake ◽

Temporal Analysis ◽

Canadian Community Health Survey ◽

Dietary Choices ◽

Community Health Survey

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Association between whole grain food intake in Canada and nutrient intake, food group intake and diet quality: Findings from the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0253052 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (7) ◽

pp. e0253052

Author(s):

Jessica Smith ◽

Yong Zhu ◽

Neha Jain ◽

Norton Holschuh

Keyword(s):

Community Health ◽

Health Survey ◽

Diet Quality ◽

Canadian Community Health Survey ◽

Whole Grains ◽

Food Sources ◽

Wheat Bread ◽

Food Groups ◽

Whole Grain ◽

Community Health Survey

Whole grains have been associated with numerous beneficial health outcomes and are recommended in Canada’s Food Guide; however, there is little research on whole grains specific to Canada. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterize the association between Canadians’ WG intake and nutrients, food groups and diet quality and to understand top sources of WG in the diets of Canadians. We used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey 2015: a cross-sectional survey that collected information on diet (using a 24-hour recall) and health from 20,487 Canadians 1 year and older. We classified study participants according to their WG intake: non-WG (n = 10,883) and three groups based on age-specific tertiles of WG intake, low-WG (n = 3,322), mid-WG (n = 3,180), and high-WG (n = 3,102). Results were analyzed using population-based survey methods and were adjusted for energy, age, gender, overweight/obesity, income, and supplement use. We found differences in nutrients and food groups by WG group: there was a significant linear trend across groups of increasing WG for increased fiber (children and adults), vitamin B6 (children), thiamin (adults), potassium (children and adults), zinc (adults), calcium (children and adults), iron (children and adults), magnesium (children and adults), fruit (adults), and legumes, nuts and seeds (adults); and decreased total fat (adults), saturated fat (adults), folate (children and adults), refined grains (adults and children), and meat and poultry (adults) intake. We found that there were no differences in total sugar or sodium intake across WG intake groups. The high WG intake group for both children and adults had higher diet quality, measured by the Nutrient Rich Food Index 9.3, compared to non-WG eaters. The top 2 food sources of WG across WG intake groups for children and adults were whole grain oat and high fiber breakfast cereal and whole grain and whole wheat bread. Other top sources of WG included rice, bread products, other breakfast cereals, salty snacks, cereal grains and flours, pasta, and sweet snacks. This research supports recommendations to increase WG foods intake as a means to improve diet quality of Canadians.

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Gambling and Problem Gambling in Canada in 2018: Prevalence and Changes Since 2002: Le Jeu et le Jeu Problématique au Canada en 2018 : Prévalence et Changements Depuis 2002

The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/0706743720980080 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 070674372098008

Author(s):

Robert J. Williams ◽

Carrie A. Leonard ◽

Yale D. Belanger ◽

Darren R. Christensen ◽

Nady el-Guebaly ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Problem Gambling ◽

Community Health ◽

Health Survey ◽

Canadian Community Health Survey ◽

Problem Gamblers ◽

Type Of Gambling ◽

Community Health Survey ◽

Electronic Gambling ◽

Time Periods ◽

Electronic Gambling Machine

Objective: The purpose of this study was to provide an updated profile of gambling and problem gambling in Canada and to examine how the rates and pattern of participation compare to 2002. Method: An assessment of gambling and problem gambling was included in the 2018 Canadian Community Health Survey and administered to 24,982 individuals aged 15 and older. The present analyses selected for adults (18+). Results: A total of 66.2% of people reported engaging in some type of gambling in 2018, primarily lottery and/or raffle tickets, the only type in which the majority of Canadians participate. There are some significant interprovincial differences, with perhaps the most important one being the higher rate of electronic gambling machine (EGM) participation in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The overall pattern of gambling in 2018 is very similar to 2002, although participation is generally much lower in 2018, particularly for EGMs and bingo. Only 0.6% of the population were identified as problem gamblers in 2018, with an additional 2.7% being at-risk gamblers. There is no significant interprovincial variation in problem gambling rates. The interprovincial pattern of problem gambling in 2018 is also very similar to what was found in 2002 with the main difference being a 45% decrease in the overall prevalence of problem gambling. Conclusions: Gambling and problem gambling have both decreased in Canada from 2002 to 2018 although the provincial patterns are quite similar between the 2 time periods. Several mechanisms have likely collectively contributed to these declines. Decreases have also been reported in several other Western countries in recent years and have occurred despite the expansion of legal gambling opportunities, suggesting a degree of inoculation or adaptation in the population.

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Determinants of food insecurity among elderly people: findings from the Canadian Community Health Survey

Ageing and Society ◽

10.1017/s0144686x20002081 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Moses Mosonsieyiri Kansanga ◽

Yujiro Sano ◽

Isaac Bayor ◽

Joseph Asumah Braimah ◽

Abraham Marshall Nunbogu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Community Health ◽

Elderly People ◽

Health Survey ◽

Policy Issue ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Canadian Community Health Survey ◽

Health Concern ◽

Community Health Survey

Abstract Food insecurity among elderly people is a major public health concern due to its association with several health conditions. Despite growing research and implementation of diverse income-based policy measures, food insecurity among elderly people remains a major policy issue in Canada. Additional research could inform food policy beyond strategies that target improving the financial resources of elderly people. Drawing data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (N = 24,930), we explored the correlates of food insecurity among older adults using negative log-log logistic regression techniques. Our findings show that certain categories of elderly people are more prone to food insecurity. These segments include seniors who are visible minorities (OR = 1.29, p < 0.01), live alone (OR = 1.13, p < 0.05), have a very weak sense of community belonging (OR = 1.40, p < 0.001), in poor physical health (OR = 1.20, p < 0.01), and those in lower age and income categories. These findings corroborate previous studies that demonstrate that food insecurity among elderly people is a complex phenomenon influenced by diverse socio-economic factors. In Canada, food security policies targeted at elderly people have largely prioritised poverty alleviation through income support programmes. While these programmes can improve the purchasing power of elderly people, they may not be sufficient in ensuring food security. There is a need to embrace and further investigate an integrated approach that pays attention to other contextual socio-economic dynamics.

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