Many Canadian children are overweight or obese, which is a big health problem. It increases their risk of serious health issues, like cardiovascular disease, and can also lead to social and mental health struggles. Eating an unhealthy diet is a top cause of overweight and obesity. Research shows that the diets of Canadian children do not contain enough fruits and vegetables and contain too many processed foods that are high in sodium, sugar, and unhealthy fats.

The goal of the child nutrition research at the L’Abbé Lab is to evaluate the diets of Canadian children, understand factors that influence children’s food choices and generate evidence to inform policies that can improve children’s health in Canada and globally.

 

STUDIES FROM OUR LAB

We have conducted several studies related to child nutrition, some of which are divided into broader research areas and included below. A complete list of lab publications is available at L’Abbe Lab Publications.

Children’s dietary intakes and patterns:

• • Nutritional quality of children’s food choices: We examined the quality and quantity of food choices of children 2–8 years old and adolescents 9–18 years old, using Health Canada’s Surveillance Tool Tier System and data from the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey.
  • Dietary patterns of Canadian children: We examined the dietary patterns of Canadian children and the applicability and relevance of Health Canada’s Surveillance Tool Tier System as a measure of diet quality using data from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey.

Foods for children in the food supply:

• Healthfulness of food brands for children: We examined the proportion of products offered by leading food brands in Canada that are ‘unhealthy’ according to Health Canada’s proposed restrictions on food marketing to children.
• Nutritional quality of kids’ meals: We analyzed added sugars in kids’ meals from Canadian chain restaurants in relation to the World Health Organization’s sugar recommendations.

Child-directed food marketing:

• Child-appealing food packaging: We evaluated the presence, type and power of child-appealing marketing, compared the nutritional quality of child-appealing vs. non-child-appealing Canadian packaged foods and examined the relationship between nutrient composition and marketing power.
• Marketing techniques used in child-appealing food and beverage research: We generated an inventory of the marketing techniques that have been used in research to identify child-appealing marketing.

School foods:

• [Submitted publication] Foods, beverages and menu items allowed for sale in Ontario schools: We assessed the alignment of foods and beverages from grocery stores and menu offerings from chain restaurants with the nutrition standards in the Ontario School Food and Beverage Policy (PPM150). A full list of items that met the criteria to be sold in schools will be posted here once the manuscript is published.
• [Forthcoming publication] Children’s intakes at school: We examined Canadian children’s dietary intakes at school by location of food preparation, meal occasion and as a proportion of total daily intakes.

Additional information on child nutrition research at the University of Toronto can be found be the website for Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition: https://childnutrition.utoronto.ca/