Food sources of nutrients available in the Canadian diet, 1990: an estimation based on food purchase data
1993
Robichon-Hunt, L. | Robbins, L.G.
Currently, Canada has no national system to monitor the food and nutrient intake of our diverse population. As a consequence, information is lacking on the effects of changing lifestyles. demographics and dietary guidelines on the eating habits of Canadians. In the absence of such a system, Agriculture Canada has developed a computerized method to estimate current food sources of nutrients using household food purchase data from Statistics Canada's Family Food Expenditure Survey (FOODEX). The most recent analysis, based on the 1990 FOODEX, revealed a macronutrient distribution as a percentage of energy of 14.7% protein, 36.0% fat and 49.3% carbohydrate. Saturated fatty acids contributed 11.9% of energy. Comparative values reported in the 1986 FOODEX analysis were 15,2% protein, 37.5% fat and 47.3% carbohydrate. Therefore, over the four-year period, the relative importance of fat as an energy source had decreased, while that of carbohydrate had increased. It must be recognized that absolute food and nutrient intakes are over-estimated when the analysis is based on food purchase data. This is due to the inability to account for table waste. However, when results based on food purchase data from FOODEX were compared with results reported from the Nova Scotia Nutrition Survey, the relative proportions of dietary macronutrients to food energy and food sources of nutrients were generally consistent
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