Consumption Patterns of Grain-Based Foods among Children and Adolescents in Canada: Evidence from Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition 2015.

Syed Hosseini,Hassan Vatanparast,Naorin Isalm,Yanni Papanikolaou,Patil Rashmi,Arash Shamloo

doi:10.3390/nu11030623

Abstract

The current analyses used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition 2015 to investigate grain-based food (GBF) dietary patterns of consumptions among 6,400,000 Canadian children and adolescents 2 to 18 years old. Nutrient intakes, socioeconomic differences, body mass index (BMI) z-scores, and intakes of several food groups were examined across the identified grain patterns of consumption. We employed k-mean cluster analysis to identify the consumption patterns of grain products. Based on the contributions of 21 grain food groups to the total energy intake of each individual, seven GBF consumption patterns were identified including other bread; salty snacks; pasta; rice; cakes and cookies; white bread; and mixed grains. Individuals having less than one serving of grain products were also separately categorized as no-grain consumers. Mean energy intake (kcal/day) was lowest for the “no-grain” consumers and greatest in children/adolescents consuming a “salty snacks” pattern when all GBF patterns were compared. Children and adolescents with “no-grain” and “rice” GBF consumption patterns had significantly lower intakes of several nutrients including dietary fiber, folate, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, thiamin, niacin, and riboflavin. No associations were observed with any of the identified GBF patterns and BMI z-scores. In addition, the socioeconomic status (SES) indicators such as household incomes and immigration status of participants were shown to be significantly different across the identified clusters.

Highlights

Grain products are one of the main staple foods across the globe
Our findings suggest that grain foods can be important contributors to energy, dietary fiber, magnesium, calcium, folic acid, iron, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, and zinc in the Canadian diet
Our findings suggest that due to the mandatory and voluntary fortification of refined grains, these foods are important contributors to the intake of the nutrients of public health concern in Canada, especially iron, calcium, and potassium

Summary

Introduction

In Canada, data from the 2015 and 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS 2.2) showed that grain-based foods (GBFs) are important sources of folate, thiamine, iron, fiber, and energy in the daily diet [1]. On average, these foods contributed 45% of folate, 41% of iron, 35% of fiber, and 25.9% of energy to the daily diets of Canadians. Canada’s Food Guide (CFG) recommends that at least half of the grain products consumed daily should be whole grains [2] This recommendation was based on observations linking the consumption of higher servings of whole-grain to lowered risk of cardiovascular diseases and reduced body weight [3,4,5,6]. Consumption of whole grain foods is associated with lower risk of developing colorectal cancer [7], type 2 diabetes [8,9], and cancer and mortality from all causes [10,11]

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