Study suggests Quebecers’ appétit is far from bon

Despite decades of information campaigns stressing the importance of healthy nutrition, Quebecers remain too busy consuming salt and fat to finish their vegetables, a study by Université Laval has found. According the study, posted on the Canadian Journal of Cardiology website, Quebecers scored a mere 55 per cent on the study, which was conducted between August 2015 and April 2017 and involved 1,147 respondents. Participants were required on three occasions to fill out an online questionnaire detailing what food and beverages they had consumed in the previous 24 hours. Those findings were then compared with the recommendations contained in the Canadian Food Guide. The results found that only 24 per cent of participants hit the recommended target for fruits and vegetables, only 12 per cent were consuming the recommended amount of cereals and whole grains and 39 per cent consumed the recommended amount of dairy products. Also, 81 per cent exceeded the recommended limit for salt consumption and 74 per cent crossed the daily limit for the consumption of fats. The nutritional index for Quebecers, which reflects just how closely they are following the recommendations of the Canadian Food Guide, stands at 55 per cent. That result comes in below the 2004 Canadian average of 59 per cent. The study also found that despite the findings of the survey, most Quebecers (75 per cent) think their eating habits are good, very good or excellent, while only 25 per cent think their habits are acceptable or bad. “We’re seeing that people have a tendency to overestimate the quality of their food,” said study author Benoît Lamarche, a professor at the École de nutrition at the Faculté des sciences de l’agriculture et de l’alimentation at Laval University. Lamarche said one way to improve Quebecers’ eating habits was to make healthier foods more readily available in neighbourhoods where the choices currently are limited.