Didier Brassard1, Catherine Laramée1, Louise Corneau1, Catherine Bégin2, Mathieu Bélanger3, Luigi Bouchard4, Charles Couillard1, Sophie Desroches1, Julie Houle5, Marie-France Langlois6, Véronique Provencher1, Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret7, Marie-Claude Vohl1, Julie Robitaille1, Simone Lemieux1, Benoît Lamarche8. 1. Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada; School of Nutrition, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada. 2. Social Sciences, School of Psychology, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada. 3. Department of Family Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada. 4. ECOGENE-21 Biocluster, CIUSSS du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, Saguenay, Canada, and Department of Biochemistry, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada. 5. Nursing Department, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. 6. Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Université de Sherbrooke, Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. 7. Department of Nutrition, Université de Montréal, Montreal Clinical Research Institute, Quebec, Canada. 8. Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada; School of Nutrition, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: benoit.lamarche@fsaa.ulaval.ca.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Regular monitoring of the population's food and nutrient intake is essential to develop effective nutrition-focused public health policies. The aim of this study was to provide dietary intake estimates using an age- and sex-representative sample of French-speaking adults with Internet access from 5 administrative regions in the province of Quebec, Canada. METHODS: PRÉDicteurs Individuels, Sociaux et Environnementaux (PREDISE) is a multicentre cross-sectional study that used a Web-based approach to collect individual, social, and environmental data on factors associated with adherence to dietary recommendations. Dietary intake was estimated from the average of 3 validated Web-based 24-hour recalls. RESULTS: Mean (± SD) age of the 1147 participants (50.2% women) was 43.2 ± 4.6 years and median body mass index was 26.3 (interquartile range, 23.3-30.3). Less than 25% of participants met Canada's Food Guide recommendations for vegetables and fruit intake (prevalence, 23.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 21.1-26.0). Most participants reported consuming more than 2300 mg of sodium (prevalence, 80.5%; 95% CI, 78.2-82.7) and more than 10% energy as saturated fats (prevalence, 74.2%; 95% CI, 71.6-76.7). Mean Canadian Healthy Eating Index score on a scale of 0-100 was 54.5 (95% CI, 53.8-55.2), reflecting relatively poor diet quality according to current dietary recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported dietary intakes measured using a new validated Web-based 24-hour recall in this sample of French-speaking adults from Quebec and with access to Internet suggest low adherence to current Canadian dietary guidelines. These data emphasize the need for more effective nutrition-focused public health policies to maximize cardiovascular disease prevention at the population level.
BACKGROUND: Regular monitoring of the population's food and nutrient intake is essential to develop effective nutrition-focused public health policies. The aim of this study was to provide dietary intake estimates using an age- and sex-representative sample of French-speaking adults with Internet access from 5 administrative regions in the province of Quebec, Canada. METHODS: PRÉDicteurs Individuels, Sociaux et Environnementaux (PREDISE) is a multicentre cross-sectional study that used a Web-based approach to collect individual, social, and environmental data on factors associated with adherence to dietary recommendations. Dietary intake was estimated from the average of 3 validated Web-based 24-hour recalls. RESULTS: Mean (± SD) age of the 1147 participants (50.2% women) was 43.2 ± 4.6 years and median body mass index was 26.3 (interquartile range, 23.3-30.3). Less than 25% of participants met Canada's Food Guide recommendations for vegetables and fruit intake (prevalence, 23.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 21.1-26.0). Most participants reported consuming more than 2300 mg of sodium (prevalence, 80.5%; 95% CI, 78.2-82.7) and more than 10% energy as saturated fats (prevalence, 74.2%; 95% CI, 71.6-76.7). Mean Canadian Healthy Eating Index score on a scale of 0-100 was 54.5 (95% CI, 53.8-55.2), reflecting relatively poor diet quality according to current dietary recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported dietary intakes measured using a new validated Web-based 24-hour recall in this sample of French-speaking adults from Quebec and with access to Internet suggest low adherence to current Canadian dietary guidelines. These data emphasize the need for more effective nutrition-focused public health policies to maximize cardiovascular disease prevention at the population level.