Table Of Content

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