‘Manual on Healthy Lifestyle Choices’ Released

Tony Clement Canadian Health minister released the revised version of the Canada Food Guide.

Health Canada last revised the healthy food guide in 1992. It was first published in 1942, where it accordingly gave guides on war rationing.

The new guide described as a manual on healthy lifestyle choices does exactly that, according to the health minister.

“Our new food guide contains more information than ever before to help Canadians make wise choices about the food they eat and how to stay healthy,” Mr. Clement said.

The new edition of the guide advises Canadians to focus on vegetables, fruits and whole grains and to limit foods that are high in calories, fat, sugar and salt.

The guide also encourages Canadians to get moving and incorporate more exercise into their lives along with making changes in their eating habits.

For the first time users can personalize their food choices using an interactive tool called my food guide on the food guide’s website.

This is also the first time that changes have been made keeping in mind the cultural diversity of Canada. Hence serving sizes of varied foods such as naan bread, hummus, Bok choy etc.

Advice from Canada’s new food guide includes the following:

• Eat at least one dark green and one orange vegetable every day

• Have vegetables and fruit more often than juice

• Make at least half of your grain products whole grain each day

• Drink fortified soy beverages if you do not drink milk

• Eat beans, lentils and tofu often

• Eat at least two food guide servings of fish every week

• Satisfy your thirst with water

• Adults should get 30 to 60 minutes of moderate physical activity every day and children 90 minutes

In 2004, the government completed a review of the existing guide and decided improvements could be made as some Canadians thought parts of the guide were too vague, there was confusion about serving sizes, and the guide did not adequately reflect multicultural foods.

There were rounds of consultations with thousands of health professionals, educators, consumer and food industry groups, academics and the public to develop the new guide.

The health minister sums it up properly, “The new food guide incorporates the best and the most current information that nutritional science has to offer.”

Source-Medindia
ANN