News & Events |
March is National Nutrition Month across Canada. Since the early 1980s, the Dieticians of Canada have put on an annual campaign promoting healthy eating. The goal of National Nutrition month is to highlight nutrition as a key component of health, and focus on motivating and enabling Canadians to make informed food choices to improve their health. Nutrition Month also stimulates nutrition activities in communities across Canada, profiling dietitians as the best source of reliable nutrition information. This year, the Dieticians of Canada are focusing their efforts on youth, and are adding a new dimension to their campaign – being active. In March 2004, the theme is focused on Healthy Eating for School Aged Children and Youth 6 to 17 years, where they live, learn, and play. The goal is to support teachers, educators and parents in providing children and youth an environment that establishes and maintains not only lifelong healthy eating habits, but lifelong physical activity patterns too. This means not only promoting and providing the means to healthy eating and physical activity, but also providing the access to information and suggestions on how to meet the challenges that are faced when it comes to healthy eating and physical activity. Recent research shows that children and youth are having trouble with a variety of areas as it relates to nutrition and physical activity. These areas include inadequate nutrient intake, decline in breakfast eating in adolescence, an increased reliance on fast foods and restaurant eating, increased consumption of soft drinks, inactivity and a trend towards overweight and obesity. For more information on National Nutrition Month, or other information on nutrition and physical activity, please visit the Dieticians of Canada website.
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