Alberta nutrition guidelines for children and youth - draft for discussion

2007·5.3 MB·English

by  Alberta Institute for Human Nutrition

ALBERTA NUTRITION GUIDELINES EOR
—
CHILDREN AND YOUTH DRAET FOR DISCUSSION
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I. 1
Why Guidelinesare important 2
II. GUIDING PRINCIPLES 5
III. NUTRITION GUIDELINES FORCHILDRENANDYOUTH 7
B. HEALTHY EATING FORCHILDRENANDYOUTH:
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS 15
B.l SPECIALCONSIDERATIONS FORCHILDCARE FACILITIES 16
B.2 SPECIALCONSIDERATIONS FORSCHOOLS 22
B.3 SPECIALCONSIDERATIONS FOR RECREATIONAL
FACILITIESAND ENVIRONMENTS 28
APPENDICES 33
APPENDIXA:THE FOOD RATING SYSTEM 35
APPENDIX B: GUIDELINES FOR POLICY DEVELOPMENT 43
APPENDIXC: IMPLEMENTATIONTOOLS 51
APPENDIX D: FREQUENTLYASKED QUESTIONS 61
APPENDIX E: REFERENCES 65
APPENDIX F: EATINGWELLWITH CANADA'S FOOD GUIDE 69
ThedraftAlbertaNutritionGuidelinesforChildrenand
YouthhavebeencommissionedbyAlbertaHealthand
WellnessandpreparedbytheAlbertaInstituteforHuman
NutritionattheUniversityofAlberta, Edmonton.
INTRODUCTION
I.
The Government ofAlbertaiscommitted to promoting TheAlberta Nutrition Guidelines forChildrenand Youth
healthyeatingand healthyweights forchildrenand will assistAlbertanstocreate an environment which
youthinAlberta. Because manymealsandsnacksare providesand promotes healthy foodchoicesand healthy
consumed outside the home, it isimportant to ensure that attitudesabout food. Asindividuals, families, organizations
childrenandyouthare able toaccesshealthy foodchoices and communities, we canwork togetherto increase the
wherevertheygo. Manyofthese eatingoccasionswill availabilityand appealofhealthierfoodchoices, and to
occurinthesettingsofchildcare facilities, schools, and teachand modelhealthyeatingbehaviours. On a practical
recreational facilitiesandenvironments. These facilities level, the guidelineswillhelpAlbertans to recognize and
andorganizationsthereforehave aunique opportunity applythe conceptsofhealthynutntion inaconsistent
toimpactthe eatingpracticesandattitudesofAlberta’s way, so thatchildrenwillhaveaccess to nutritious foods
childrenandyouth. The goal oftheAlbertaNutrition wherevertheygo.
GuidelinesforChildrenandYouthisto equip facilitiesand
organizationswiththe toolstheyneed toprovide children
andyouthwithhealthyfoodchoicesinchildcare settings,
schools, inrecreationcentres, atspecialevents, andinthe
communityatlarge.
AlbertaNutritionGuidelinesforChildrenandYouth
—
Facts and Stats Healthy Eating and Diet QualityofCanadian Children andYouth
Children and Youth • Anonlinesurveyofgrade 6-9 studentsinAlberta
foundthatgirlsdidnotmeettheminimumnumberof
Healthy EatingandChildren's Health
servingsforthree ofthe fourfoodgroups (vegetables
• Foodchoicesduringchildhoodandadolescencehelp andfruit, meatsandalternatives, andmilkandmilk
to fueloptimalgrowthanddevelopmentandlaythe products) mthe Canada’sFoodGuide forHealthyEating
foundationforlifelongeatinghabits. (Calengor, 2006).
• Pooreatinghabitsandsub-optimalnutrientintakes • Sevento 16% ofchildrenconsumemore fatthan
duringthe hrsttwo decadesoflifehavebeenlinked theupperrecommendedlevelof35% ofcalories,
to anincreasedriskforheartdisease, cancer, diabetes the thresholdbeyondwhichhealthrisksarelikelyto
andotherchronicdiseaseslaterinlife (WorldHealth increase (Garriguet, 2004; lOM, 2002).
Organization, 2002; Zemeletak, 2004; Zemel, 2005). • Vegetable andfruitconsumptionislimitedamong
• Eatinghabitsandnutritionalstatushave alsobeenlinked CanadianchildrenlivinginthePrairieProvinces
toacademicperformance,behaviour, andself-esteem andaveragesonly4servingsaday, comparedtothe
inchildrenandyouth(Walsh-Pierce andWardle, 1997; recommendedminimumof5 (Garriguet, 2004).
Corbinetak, 1997;Whalley 2004). • Childrenwhoreportconsumingvegetablesand fruits
Healthy EatingandBrain lessthan 5 timesadayaremorelikelytobe overweight
Development/Ability to Learn orobese (Shields, 2004)
• Foodchoicesandeatingpatternsinfluencebrain • InCanada, 61% ofboys, and83% ofgirlsdonottake
developmentandabilitytolearninchildrenandyouth intherecommendedminimumof3 servingsperdayof
(McCain, 1999). milkproducts. (Garriguet, 2004).
• Optimalbraindevelopmentdemandsconsistentintakes • Breakfastaccountsforthe fewestnumberofcalories
ofseveralnutrientsincludingiron,vitaminB12,zinc, intheeatingpatternsofCanadianchildrenandyouth,
andomega-3 fattyacids (Hughes, 2003; Bryan, 2004). whichmaytranslateintomoresnackingthroughoutthe
day(Garriguet, 2004).
• Eatingpatternsthatdonotprovide theseessential
nutrientshavebeenlinkedto decreasedcognitive
functionandacademicperformance (Louwanetal,
2000;Whalley, 2004)
2
—
DraftforDiscussion june2007
Excessive Intakes ofFoods thatare High in Fat, Sugar, Body Weightand Health
SaltandCalories In 2004, more than one in fourCanadian children and
—
• Foods that aremostlysugar, ormostly fat, aswell as youthaged 2-17 were eitheroverweight orobese
higherfatand/orhighersaltsnackfoodsrepresent more than double the rate since 1973 (Health Council
almost V4 ofthe energy(calorie) intake ofCanadian ofCanada).
childrenandyouthaged4-18years (Garriguet, 2004). More thanone in fourAlbertachildren and youth are
• Almost Vi ofAlbertanchildrenreport consuming overweight, which in turnhasled to increasingratesof
high-fat, high-calorie foodsonadailybasis. Type 2 diabetesinyoungpeople (SouthernAlberta Child
(FoundationsforSchoolNutrition Initiativesin andYouthHealthNetwork).
Alberta, 2006).
—
• V4 ofCanadianchildrenreporteatingfast foods—many
ofwhichare highin fat, salt, sugarandcalories
everyday. (Foundations forSchoolsNutritionInitiatives
m
Alberta, 2006).
• More than 39% ofjuniorhighstudents, andmore
than 50% ofhighschoolstudentsreportpurchasing
foods fromvendingmachinesand convenience
storesatleast onceperweek(Calengor, 2006;Taft
andMcCargar, 2004).
• Highcalorie,lessnutntiousfoodsandbeverages, suchas
soft drinkshavebeenlinked to theriskforoverweightin
childrenandyouth(Malik, Schulze, andHu, 2006).
• InAlberta, obese adolescentsconsumesignihcantlymore
foodsthatare mostlysugar, ormostlyfat, orhigherfat
and/orhighersaltsnackfoodsthantheirnormalweight
peers (Calengor, 2006).

—
Draftfor Discussion June2007
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
II.
TheAlberta Nutrition Guidelines forChildrenandYouthhave been developed
based on the followingguidingprinciples;
The guidelines
1 . Were developedinresponse torequests from 6. Are intended to promote and achieve healthyweights
individualsandorganizations thatworkwith forchildrenandyouth.
childrenandyouthforguidance tocreate supportive
7. Include practicalimplementationstrategies.
environmentsthat enable healthyfoodchoices.
8. Reflect the ethnicand cultural diversityof
2. Arebasedoncurrentevidence ofwhat constitutesa Alberta’spopulation.
healthydietar)'pattern forchildrenandyouth.
9. Considerthe role ofthe familyin guidingthe food
3. Translatenutritionalscience into practical food choices ofchildrenandyouth.
choiceguidance.
10. Encourage andsupport the provisionofhealthy food
4. Complement HealthCanada’srecommendationsin
choicesat all facilitiesandeventswherechildren and
EatingWellwith Canada’sFoodGuide, andadopta
youthvisit.
“total dietapproach” tohealthyeating.
5. Are intended topromote andachieve optimal
growth, development, and overallhealthfor
childrenandyouth.
5
^
,
y
i , 'I ‘'-V
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2016
in
https://archive.org/details/albertanutrition00albe_2
—
DraftforDiscussion June2007
NUTRITION GUIDELINES FOR
III.
CHILDREN AND YOUTH
A. Healthy Eating for all Children and Youth
Childrenandyouthhave differentnutritional needs than atchildcare facilities, schools, recreational facilitiesand
adults, andshouldnot be consideredas“little adults”. communityeventscanall make a unique and important
Propernutritionisespeciallyimportant duringchildhood contribution. TheAlberta Nutrition Guidelines forChildren
andadolescence to: andYouthadoptapositive approach, and descnbe general
• Support optimalphysical, cognitive, andsocialgrowth andspecihcwaysinwhichAlbertanscanbe involved in
anddevelopment. supportingthe healthandwellbeingofAlberta’schildren
andyouth.
• Develophealthyeatinghabitsnowand forthe future.
• Achieve andmaintainhealthybodyweights. The followinggeneral recommendationsare relevant inall
placeswherechildrenandyouthmaybe present.
• Reduce theriskforchronicdiseasessuchasheart
disease, cancer, osteoporosis, andtype 2 diabetes.
Althoughthenutritionalrequirementsofyoungpeople
varywithage, sex, andlevelofactivity, allchildrenand
youthbenehtfromawellbalancedapproachto eating. A
comprehensiveapproachtohealthyeatingmustconsider:
Ij
li i) thecomponents ofahealthydiet; ii)waysto enhance
access to safe, nutritious foods; andhi)ways to create
J
environmentsthatsupporthealthyfoodchoices. Parents
playasignihcantroleinthisprocess,howeverpersonnel
l|
I|
7
AlbertaNutritionGuidelinesforChildrenandYouth
i) Healthy dietsfor children and youth include: • Choosingavarietyoffoodsfromeachfood
• Nutrient-richfoodsfromall4 foodgroupsof groupeveryday
Canada’sFood Guide;* • Choosingdifferentkindsoffoodswithinthefoodgroups
helpstopreventnutrientdeficiencies.
Vegetables& Fruit
• Raworpreparedwith littletonoaddedfat, • Limitingfoodsthatarehighinsugar, salt, orfattono
sugar,orsalt. morethan 1 to 2 servingsperweek.
• Eg. fresh,frozen,orcannedvegetables; • Enjoyingregularmealsandsnacks.
unsweetenedfresh,frozen,orcannedfruits. • Watershouldalwaysbeavailable.
• Choosingappropriateportionsizesoffoods, consistent
Grain Products withhungerandfullness.
• Wholegrainchoicesthatare lowerinfat, • Servingsizesforfoodsthatarehighinfat, sugarandsalt
sugar,andsalt. ? shouldnotexceed:
• Includeswholegrain breads,cerealsandpastas;
brown rice. - 30gforchipsandcrackers
^ ^ - - 30gforhighsugarcereal
Milk&Alternatives - 20gforbeefjerky
• Lowerfat (skim, 1%, 2%) milkand - 30gforcookiesandcerealbars
milkalternatives. - 40 gforchocolatebarsandcandy
^ Eg. fluid milk,cheeses>yogurts, calciumand
vitamin Dfortifiedsoybeverages. - 55 gforbakeryitems,including,butnotlimitedto,
pastries,muffins, anddoughnuts(approximatelythe
size ofadeckofcards)
Meat&Alternatives
• Makingnutritiousfoodsmoreaccessible, andlimitingthe
• Preparedwith littleornoaddedfatorsalt.
availabilityoffoodsthatarelessnutritious.
• Eg. lean meats,fish orpoultry; eggs; legumes
(eg. dried beans, peasorlentils); nuts/nut • Ensuringfoodpurchasersknowhowtoreadfoodlabels
butters;tofu. toselecthealthyfoods.
*AppendixF
8