Nutrition and Healthy Weights - Chronic Disease Prevention
Data definitions, limitations & uses • Data Sources

It has been known for many years that proper nutrition is vital to optimal growth and development. Knowledge linking diet and the development of chronic disease has come to light more recently. Increasingly, research is supporting the notion that healthy eating is a significant factor in the development of chronic diseases. These diseases include: heart disease; cancer; obesity; hypertension; osteoporosis; anemia; dental decay; neural tube defects and some bowel disorders.

Almost one third of Canadians are at increased risk of disability, disease and premature death because they are significantly overweight. Obesity is a risk factor for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, some cancers and gallbladder disease. In 1997, an estimated 2.4% (1.8 billion) of health care services in Canada were spent on the consequences of obesity. In general, obesity is more common among men than women, and among older compared younger adults. In 1996, 37% of men 20 to 64 years old and 26% of women, living in the combined regions of Leeds, Grenville and Lanark, Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington and Hastings and Prince Edward (LGL/KFLA/HPE) were overweight  (see figure 1). Furthermore, the prevalence of obesity among younger adults (20-44) living in this region is significantly higher than in Ontario (see figure 2).

While body weight is not a personal health practice, it is, to a large extent, determined by physical activity practices and eating. For information relating to the physical activity status of local residents see Physical Activity. Access to healthy foods at an affordable price is one factor that relates to maintenance of a healthy diet. In Leeds, Grenville and Lanark (LGL), a nutritious food basket cost a family of four $115 per week in 2000, $114 per week in 1999, this is an increase from $106 per week in 1998.

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Assessing the nutritional characteristics of communities is a difficult task. It involves large, very expensive surveys. The most recent data on the nutritional behaviours of residents in LGL came from the 1990 Ontario Health Survey. At the time of its completion it was one of the largest health surveys ever carried out in Canada. Questions about nutrition and healthy weights were included in a self-completed questionnaire portion of the survey. To determine whether someone was eating healthy their eating patterns were compared to the recommendations in "Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating". In LGL only a small percent of the population met the guidelines in this document. The food guide recommends that we consume between 5 and 10 servings of vegetables and fruits daily. Only 42% of residents 12 and older in LGL met this requirement in 1990. The food guide also recommends that Canadians consume between 5 and 12 servings of grain products daily. In 1990, only 21 percent of residents in LGL met this requirement. This figure  (see figure 3) describes the percent of the population 12 and older in LGL that met the food guide's consumption recommendation for each food group, in 1990.

In addition, the latest nutrition recommendations for Canadians recommend that only 30% of our total calories come from fat. In 1990, this was not the case for most Ontarians. Likewise in LGL, 82% of residents consumed more than 30% of their calories from fat  (see figure 4). One of the goal’s described in the Mandatory Programs and Services Guidelines is to reduce dietary fat intake to an average of 30% of calories or less among people age 18 and older by the year 2010. In LGL in 1990 the mean percent of calories derived from fat among adults 18 and older was 38.5. In Ontario, in 1990, the mean percent of calories derived from fat among adults 18+ was 37.0

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Data definitions, limitations 
Body Mass Index
Nutritious Food Basket
People who meet Canada Food Guide Requirements
Fat as a percentage of energy

Data Sources
Ontario Health Survey 1990
Ontario Health Survey, 1996