Canada’s New Healthy Eating Strategy: Implications for Health Care Professionals and a Call to Action

Abstract

Nearly two-thirds of all deaths worldwide are from noncommunicable chronic diseases, with a similar proportion in Canada. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, unhealthy eating is the leading risk for death and the second leading risk for disability in Canada. It is clear that to adequately address this major health issue, we need a comprehensive approach that includes strong governmental policy. In 2016, the Canadian government released its Healthy Eating Strategy, for which updating Canada’s Food Guide was a key element. The government released the first wave of documents (including the new food guide and dietary guidelines) in January 2019, with the healthy eating patterns guidance to follow later in 2019. Much of this work aligns with a number of policies that have been developed and adopted by the Canadian health and scientific organizations that are members of the Canadian Hypertension Advisory Committee. As such, the current editorial is a call to action for the health care and scientific community, both individuals and organizations, to ensure they have policies consistent with and supportive of those that have been developed through the Hypertension Advisory Committee collaboration and to actively participate in providing input and feedback on the Healthy Eating Strategy through the Health Canada Stakeholder Registry.