Evidence Network

Backgrounder: Improving nutritional information on food labels to help consumers make healthier choices

Data indicate several problems related to the dietary habits of Canadians; Canadians are over-consuming snacks, fats and foods not belonging to the basic food groups.

Blaming diabetes on poor eating habits has delayed real action

Journalist H.L. Mencken wrote that “for every complex problem there is a solution that is clear, simple and wrong.” That observation aptly describes a prevailing attitude toward type 2 diabetes, which characterizes diabetes as a problem that could clearly be fixed if people would simply move more and eat less.

Just how many servings of fruits and vegetables should we eat a day?

Many organizations cook up recommendations for the number of fruit and vegetable servings you should eat every day. Well known examples include Canada’s Food Guide which says you need roughly 7-10 servings, the American Heart Association which recommends 8-10 and the Harvard School of Public Health suggests somewhere between five and 13 servings of fruit and vegetables.