Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine diet quality among participants in the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (PATH) cohort and to assess the association with adiposity. Data were collected from participants (n = 23,768) aged 35–69 years that were residents of the Atlantic Canadian provinces. Both measured and self-reported data were used to examine adiposity (including body mass index (BMI), abdominal obesity, waist-to-hip ratio and fat mass) and food frequency questionnaires were used to assess diet quality. Overall, diet quality was statistically different among provinces. Of concern, participants across all the provinces reported consuming only 1–2 servings of vegetables and 1–2 servings fruit per day. However, participants also reported some healthy dietary choices such as consuming more servings of whole grains than refined grains, and eating at fast food restaurants ≤1 per month. Significant differences in BMI, body weight, percentage body fat, and fat mass index were also observed among provinces. Adiposity measures were positively associated with consumption of meat/poultry, fish, snack food, sweeteners, diet soft drinks, and frequenting fast food restaurants, and inversely associated with consumption of whole grains and green tea. Although all four provinces are in the Atlantic region, diet quality vary greatly among provinces and are associated with adiposity.
Highlights
Life expectancy is lower [1] and the prevalences of most chronic conditions are much higher in the Atlantic region of Canada, including Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island [2,3]
There were more female than male participants overall, there was no statistical difference in sex distribution among the provinces
Newfoundland and Labrador (13%), and Prince Edward Island (11%) reported the highest percentage of current smokers, Nova Scotia reported the highest habitual drinking (18%), and Prince Edward Island reported the highest percent of inactive participants (18%) (Table 1)
Summary
Life expectancy is lower [1] and the prevalences of most chronic conditions are much higher in the Atlantic region of Canada, including Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island [2,3]. Suboptimal dietary habits have been associated with mortality due to chronic disease [4]. A “Prudent”-type diet (high intake of vegetables, fruits, fish, poultry, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products) has been associated with a lower risk of mortality compared to a “Western”-type diet (characterized by high intake of meat, processed meat, bread, dairy products, coffee, black tea, soft drinks, dressing, sauce, and mayonnaise) [5,6]. Poorer diet quality has been shown to increase the risk of many chronic conditions [7,8,9]. Studying overall diet quality rather than isolated nutrients to characterize a population’s dietary intake has gained wide acceptance in nutritional epidemiology. Diet quality can be assessed by several different indices, with lower scores (i.e., less healthy diets) associated with significantly higher incidences of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality [9]. With a Nutrients 2017, 9, 1155; doi:10.3390/nu9101155 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call