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Oh Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2009

Roger Hughes
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In this Issue
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Public Health Nutrition , Volume 12 , Issue 9 , September 2009 , pp. 1311
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2009

At the time of writing this editorial (1 July), Canadians worldwide are celebrating Canada Day over beer and barbeques. It is timely therefore that a number of papers in this issue are from Canadian researchers addressing diverse public health nutrition issues. Hennessy-Priest et al.(Reference Hennessy-Priest, Mustard, Keller, Rysdale, Beyers, Goy and Randall Simpson1) report on a cross-sectional study of folate intake among pre-school children that considers the exposure of young children to dietary folate in a fortified food environment. Seliske et al.(Reference Seliske, Pickett, Boyce and Janssen2) examine the impact of the food supply environment and obesity by analysing the relationship between the proximity and density of food retailers and schools. Their finding that exposure to food retailers in school neighbourhoods was not associated with increased likelihood of overweight in school-aged youth challenges the simplistic assumption that availability and accessibility to retail food outlets results in obesinogenic dietary exposures. At the other end of the dietary intake spectrum, Tarasuk et al.(Reference Tarasuk, Dachner, Poland and Gaetz3) present a study among homeless youths to assess nutrition vulnerability and describe their food acquisition practices. Their results highlight a high degree of need with respect to food security and a range of survival behaviours that demonstrate resiliency and related risk-taking behaviours.

Oh Mother

Maternal nutrition is a key theme in this issue with studies addressing this population group across a number of continents. Rao et al.(Reference Rao, Kanade, Joshi and Yajnik4) report on modifications to a 24 h recall method of dietary assessment to objectively measure maternal dietary intake in the Pune Maternal Nutrition Study. Buss et al.(Reference Buss, Nunes, Camey, Manzolli, Soares, Drehmer, Giacomello, Duncan and Schmidt5) report on their study assessing dietary fibre intake among pregnant women in Brazil, with results highlighting inadequate fibre intake relative to recommendations in this population group. Maternal nutrition is a priority in our discipline not only because of the impact it has on maternal health, but also because of the formative effects it has on fetal development. Bonham et al.(Reference Bonham, Duffy, Robson, Wallace, Myers, Davidson, Clarkson, Shamlaye, Strain and Livingstone6) report on an observational prospective study of the dietary intakes of pregnant women in the Republic of Seychelles, with a particular focus on nutrients important for optimal fetal development. They confirm the important role of fish as a source of these nutrients and predict micronutrient deficiency risks associated with the dietary transition in this population.

Politics or poison?

Politics appears to be a consistent feature of the human condition. Thuraisingam et al.(Reference Thuraisingam, Riddell, Cook and Lawrence7) report on an analysis of the views reflected in lobbying around the development of reference standards for nutrient intakes in Australia. They highlight concerns with the political process and question the role of political interference from certain stakeholder groups in the development of good public policy.

References

1.Hennessy-Priest, K, Mustard, J, Keller, H, Rysdale, L, Beyers, J, Goy, R & Randall Simpson, J (2009) Folic acid food fortification prevents inadequate folate intake among preschoolers from Ontario. Public Health Nutr 12, 1548–1555.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Seliske, LM, Pickett, W, Boyce, WF & Janssen, I (2009) Association between the food retail environment surrounding schools and overweight in Canadian youth. Public Health Nutr 12, 1384–1391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Tarasuk, V, Dachner, N, Poland, B & Gaetz, S (2009) Food deprivation is integral to the ‘hand to mouth’ existence of homeless youths in Toronto. Public Health Nutr 12, 1437–1442.Google Scholar
4.Rao, S, Kanade, AN, Joshi, SR & Yajnik, CS (2009) Community-specific modifications are essential for objective assessment of maternal dietary intake – Pune Maternal Nutrition Study. Public Health Nutr 12, 1470–1476.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Buss, C, Nunes, MA, Camey, S, Manzolli, R, Soares, RM, Drehmer, M, Giacomello, A, Duncan, BB & Schmidt, MI (2009) Dietary fibre intake of pregnant women attending general practices in southern Brazil – The ECCAGE Study. Public Health Nutr 12, 1392–1398.Google Scholar
6.Bonham, MP, Duffy, EM, Robson, PJ, Wallace, JM, Myers, GJ, Davidson, PW, Clarkson, TW, Shamlaye, CF, Strain, JJ & Livingstone, MBE (2009) Contribution of fish to intakes of micronutrients important for fetal development: a dietary survey of pregnant women in the Republic of Seychelles. Public Health Nutr 12, 1312–1320.Google Scholar
7.Thuraisingam, S, Riddell, L, Cook, K & Lawrence, M (2009) The politics of developing reference standards for nutrient intakes: the case of Australia and New Zealand. Public Health Nutr 12, 1531–1539.Google Scholar