Canada’s food guide gives many helpful recommendations, for example:
Plan your meals. This will help you eat well by varying your food choices. It will save time grocery shopping if you plan ahead. Planning your meals will also get your food on the table faster with less stress.
- Satisfy your thirst with water. Water has absolutely no calories in it and it quenches your thirst better then any other drink.
- Eat at least 1 dark green and 1 orange vegetable a day.
- Have your fruits and vegetables with no added fat, sugar or salt. Instead of deep frying them have them steamed, baked, or in stir-fry.
- Make half your grains each day whole grains. For example: barely, brown rice, oats, quinoa, wild rice, oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, etc.
- Choose grains that are low in fat, sugar, salt. Do this by comparing labels. Use small amount of sauces if any.
- Drink 500mL of milk every day. It is an excellent source of vitamin D.
- Eat meat alternatives with little or no added fat and salt. Trim off the fat. Use cooking methods such as roasting, baking or poaching that require little or no added fat.
- GET ACTIVE! Adults should get at least 30 to 60 minutes of physical exercise everyday. Children should get at least 90 minutes a day.
According to the Canada’s Food Guide for Healthy Living there are some foods that should be eaten in large quantities and some foods that should be eaten in smaller quantities over the day. Fruits, vegetables, and grains should all be eaten in larger quantities through out the day. The average 16 year old girl should have at least 7 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. She should have 6-7 servings of grain each day as well. Milk and alternatives, and meats and alternatives should be eaten in a bit smaller quantities through out the day. The average 16 year old girl should have about 3-4 servings of milk and alternatives and 2 servings of meat and alternatives each day.
On a typical day I might eat:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of cereal
Snack: banana, candy
Lunch: bagel with cream cheese
Snack: cookies
Dinner: 2 slices of pizza
Snack: Chips, cereal
- After scoring my self on the Healthy Eating Score Card I realized in that day I only ate 4 servings of grain, 1 serving of fruits and vegetables (so not enough!!), 3 servings of milk, and 2 meat servings. I looked at how much I should be eating and this is not very close. I am not eating healthy enough. If I would have followed the food guide I would have ate more healthy foods and the right amounts of these foods.
After scoring myself on the Healthy Eating score I researched what a typical daily diet of an Italian person would be:
Breakfast: Varies. Usually warm milk or coffee and cereal or cookies.
Lunch: Broken down into three courses.First course: pasta, ravioli or riceSecond course: Meat, seafood or cheese or salami or ham with bread rollThird course: Fruits and or dessert.*Dinner: Broken down into three courses as wellFirst course: Soup(vegetable soup, ravioli soup, macaroni soup)Second course: Cheese or salami or ham with bread rollThird course: Fruits and or dessert
After scoring this on a Healthy Eating Score Card I found out that they have about 5 servings of grains, 3 servings of fruits and vegetables, 4 servings of milk and alternatives, and about 3 servings of meat.
Comparing my diet to this Italian diet I realized how much better they eat then I do. This could greatly impact our community when it comes to health and wellness. If most Canadians eat unhealthy and don’t follow the food guide properly they will become unhealthy, unfit, and may become obese. Other countries outside of North America that eat healthy and follow a food guide will be more fit, and healthy then us. I believe that if everyone followed the food guide the rate of obesity in Canada would decrease dramatically. Especially if everyone followed the food guides recommendations, for example how it recommends physical exercise everyday. If everyone did this everyone would be more healthy and fit.
