Healthy eating plays an important role in promoting health and helps to prevent obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. Healthy eating relates both to the choices people make about what to eat and the broader issue of food security.
What you will find
These resources provide Canadian and international information to help you plan programs that promote healthy food choices. For more information, please visit the Best Practices section for interventions related to healthy eating.
Data
A first step to planning a program or policy change on healthy eating is to understand the topic through surveillance data on eating habits.
Canadian Data
- Chronic Disease Infobase data cubes, interactive database. Public Health Agency of Canada.
- Eating disorders among girls and women in Canada, House of Commons (2014).
- Fruit and vegetable consumption 2010 to 2013, data table. Statistics Canada (2014).
- Fruit and vegetable consumption 2012, Health fact sheet. Statistics Canada (2013).
- Measuring the food environment in Canada, Health Canada (2013).
- Do Canadian children meet their nutritional requirements through food intake alone?, Health Canada (2012).
- Eating at home: Canadian households and the motivations and obstacles related to buying locally grown food- a pan-Canadian study, Industry Canada (2011).
- Sugar consumption among Canadians of all ages, Statistics Canada (2011).
- Vitamin D status of Canadians 2007-2009, Statistics Canada (2010).
- Diet quality in Canada, Statistics Canada (2009).
Aboriginal
- Dietary Habits of Aboriginal children, Statistics Canada (2013).
- The nutritional habits of Métis children and youth in Canada: A preliminary examination, National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (2012).
- Eating habits and nutrient intake of Aboriginal adults aged 19-50, living off-reserve in Ontario and the western provinces, Health Canada (2012).
- Traditional aboriginal diets and health, National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (2011).
Provincial/Territorial Data
- Fruit and vegetable consumption by sex, 5 times or more per day, by province and territory, data table. Statistics Canada (2013).
British Columbia
- British Columbia Healthy Eating Population Health Survey, 2013: Technical report (PDF document), British Columbia Provincial Health Services Authority (2014).
Ontario
- 900,000 days in hospital: the annual impact of smoking, alcohol, diet and physical activity on hospital use in Ontario, Institute of Clinical and Evaluative Sciences (ICES) (2014).
- Health behaviours: Self-reported nutrition and healthy weights, interactive indicators database. Public Health Ontario.
- Fruit and vegetable consumption (PDF document), Public Health Practice Branch, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (2009).
Quebec
- Les achats alimentaires des Québécois de 2006 à 2010 au regard de la saine alimentation (PDF document) (French only). Results of a study that examined the food buying habits of Quebecers over a four year period. Institut national de santé publique du Québec (2014).
- Les normes sociales et l’alimentation : Analyse des écrits scientifiques (PDF document) (French only). Institut national de santé publique du Québec (2012).
International Data
Australia
- Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health survey: Nutrition results- food and nutrients, 2012-13, Australian Bureau of Statistics (2015).
- Australian health survey: Usual nutrient intakes, 2011-2012, Australian Bureau of Statistics (2015).
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
World Health Organization (WHO)
- Joint child malnutrition estimates – Levels and trends (2015 edition). United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO), and the World Bank.
- Healthy diet: Fact sheet, (2015).
- WHO Global Infobase: Diet (fruits and vegetables), online database (2008).
Evidence on the cost of interventions
Cost information can inform decisions about best intervention options:
Canada
- L’influence des politiques agroalimentaires à charactère économique sur l’alimentation et le poids : synthèse (PDF document) (French only). Institut national de santé publique du Québec (2011).
- Obesity and the economics of prevention: Fit not fat – Canada key facts (2010).
International
Ireland
- Proposed sugar sweetened drinks tax: Health impact assessment, Institute of Public Health in Ireland (2012).
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Government Strategies (Frameworks, Action Plans, etc.)
Several Canadian provinces and international jurisdictions have a specific healthy weights strategy for children and youth, as well as strategies for healthy eating and physical activity. For this information, please see the topic pages on childhood obesity, healthy eating and physical activity.
Canadian Strategies
- Road diets: Fitter, healthier public ways, National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy (2013).
Aboriginal
- Traditional Aboriginal diets and health, National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (2011).
Health Canada
- Nutrition and healthy eating.
- Sodium in Canada.
- Working with grocers to support healthy eating (2013).
- Sodium reduction strategy for Canada for the Sodium Working Group (2010).
- Improving cooking and food preparation skills: A synthesis of the evidence to inform program and policy development (2010).
Provincial/Territorial Strategies
- Reducing the sodium intake of Canadians: A Provincial and Territorial report on progress and recommendations for future action (PDF document), Conference of Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Health (2012).
Alberta
New Brunswick
- New Brunswick’s public health nutrition framework for action 2012-2016 (PDF document), Government of New Brunswick (2012).
Nova Scotia
- Thrive! A plan for a healthier Nova Scotia: A policy and environmental approach to healthy eating and physical activity (PDF document), Government of Nova Scotia (2012).
Northwest Territories/Nunavut
- Nunavut/Northwest Territories: Healthy foods North, Governments of Nunavut & Northwest Territories in collaboration.
Ontario
- Strategies for Ontario’s provincial food procurement: Recommendations for achieving Canadian sodium targets (PDF document), Public Health Ontario (2012).
Prince Edward Island
- Prince Edward Island healthy eating strategy (2007-2010) (PDF document), Prince Edward Island Healthy Eating Alliance.
Yukon
International Strategies
France
- Programme national nutrition santé 2011-2015 (French only). Multisectoral national nutrition and health program with the goal of reducing risk factors for chronic disease through a focus on nutrition. République Française (2011).
Scotland
United States
- Strategies to reduce sodium intake in the United States, Institute of Medicine (2010).
World Health Organization (WHO)
Guidance
Canadian Guidance
- Eating well with Canada’s food guide, Health Canada.
National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy
- Public policies on nutrition labelling: Effects and implementation issues – A knowledge synthesis (2011).
- The use of Incentives and the promotion of healthy behaviours: The case of unhealthy food (2009).
Provincial/Territorial Guidance
Atlantic
- Putting health on the agenda: A model policy for healthy meetings and events, The Council of Atlantic Premiers.
Alberta
- Alberta nutrition guidelines for adults (PDF Document) (2012).
- Alberta nutrition guidelines for children and youth (PDF Document) (2012).
Ontario
- Ontario healthy eating, physical activity, and healthy weights guidance document (PDF Document), Ministry of Health Promotion (2010).
International Guidance
Australia
- Eat for health – Australian dietary guidelines Australian Government.
Europe
- Effectiveness of policy interventions to promote healthy eating and recommendations for future action: Evidence from the EATWELL project (PDF document), European Commission (2012).
Netherlands
- Dutch dietary guidelines 2015 (PDF document), Health Council of the Netherlands (2015).
New Zealand
- Food and nutrition guidelines for healthy older people: A background paper, Ministry of Health, New Zealand (2013).
- Guidance on nutrition and physical activity for workplaces, Government of New Zealand.
United Kingdom
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
- Behaviour change: individual approaches (2014).
- Maternal and child nutrition (2008).
United Nations
- Food and nutrition in numbers 2014 (PDF document), Food and Agriculture of the United Nations (2014).
United States
- Community preventive services: Promoting good nutrition, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Chronic disease series – Nutrition and health, Center for Training and Research Translation.
- Tips for offering healthier options and physical activity at workplace meetings and events (PDF document), Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Dietary guidelines for Americans, Department of Health and Department of Agriculture (2010).
World Health Organization (WHO)
Systematic Reviews of the Research
Selected reviews from HealthEvidence.org:
- Enhancing nutritional environments through access to fruit and vegetables in schools and homes among children and youth: A systematic review (2014).
- Computer- and web-based interventions to promote healthy eating among children and adolescents: A systematic review (2013).
- Reduced or modified dietary fat for preventing cardiovascular disease (2011).
- Effectiveness of school-based interventions in Europe to promote healthy nutrition in children and adolescents: Systematic review of published and ‘grey’ literature (2010).
- The effectiveness of nutrition interventions on dietary outcomes by relative social disadvantage: A systematic review (2008).
Search more systematic reviews.