Good afternoon, my name is Stéphanie Côté, and I am from the nutrition reference centre at the Université de Montréal. Our mission is to educate and inform the public to help people make informed nutrition decisions. Ours is a positive approach that takes enjoyment into account.
I want to talk to you today about diet. And I want to speak to you as eaters, because we all eat, and so diet affects us all, to some degree or another. But we have a problem when consumers think they need a degree in nutrition in order to eat well. Sometimes it feels like you need a degree just to read a nutrition label, especially when faced with an enormous amount of nutrition information, which often does more to confuse than inform.
Nutrition-related communication is an essential tool for prevention. Appropriate and well-directed communication can build nutrition skills, food skills, cooking skills and even parenting skills. But that is not currently the case.
I want to share with you two key communication concerns when it comes to food choices and nutrition.
The first is confusion, due in part to the overabundance of nutrition-related information. There are numerous forums that deal with diet and nutrition, and much of the information and advice comes from unreliable sources and non-experts. Furthermore, the way that reporters and people in the media handle that information is also questionable. Many of the claims that appear on food products only add to the confusion, not to mention the private logos that companies put on many of their own products.
The second concern is the anxiety generated by some of the communications out there. The current approach to nutrition is likely to cause feelings of stress and guilt, especially since products are lumped into two very distinct categories: foods that are good for you and foods that are bad for you. What's more, the approach is often expressed in terms of right and wrong, which can backfire when you are trying to get people to eat healthily. For the past few years, we have been hearing about orthorexia, a fixation with healthy or righteous eating, a relatively new disorder.
I have three major recommendations to address these concerns.
The first has to do with segmentation. Segmenting messages is paramount in order to better engage with the various target groups. Canada's is a very diverse population, and communications need to reflect that. It would be worthwhile to focus efforts on enhancing our knowledge of the various segments of the population, so as to tailor not just the messages, but also the way they are communicated. Numerous factors affect people's needs, receptiveness and understanding with respect to the message being communicated, including literacy, education, ethnic background, language, socio-economic conditions and family. We should not limit our communication to groups who are already interested; it is equally important to target all groups.
My second recommendation is to create an accessible no-charge service, which could take the form of a call centre or an electronic service, where members of the public could, at their convenience, ask nutritionists questions about nutrition, diet or food preparation. This type of initiative would use oral communication and therefore help to target groups with lower levels of literacy. Furthermore, it would also serve as a reliable source of information. People would not have to wonder whether the information came from a credible source, given that they would be speaking with trained nutritionists. Both Ontario and British Columbia currently provide such a service.
And last but not least, my third recommendation has to do with educating children. Teaching children from an early age about foods, healthy eating principles and basic food preparation is key. And obviously, it is important to continue with that education as children get older, to instil in them the knowledge essential to developing healthy eating skills.
Taste-based education is another approach worth exploring. Experts in Europe are particularly interested in the effectiveness of that approach versus one based solely on nutrition. It involves developing a child's joy of eating, helping foster a stronger appreciation of food and possibly healthier eating habits and portion control, which would solve two problems at once.
In conclusion, I would remind you that eating is a natural act. Mealtime should be an enjoyable time. But unfortunately, for many Canadians, the simple act of eating involves constant calculations and stress.
Clearly, our current approach to communication is not working. Not only must we come up with better ways to communicate with a diverse population, but we must also measure the effectiveness of those communication methods.
I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I also want to thank you for your consideration.