Nutritional health promotion in Newfoundland and Labrador: an examination of the potential roles of family physicians and Canada's Food Guide in promoting nutritional health among Newfoundland and Labrador residents

Weir, Tracy Lynn (2006) Nutritional health promotion in Newfoundland and Labrador: an examination of the potential roles of family physicians and Canada's Food Guide in promoting nutritional health among Newfoundland and Labrador residents. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Chronic diseases are a major cause of death and disability in Newfoundland and Labrador. As nutrition is one of the few modifiable factors associated with the development of chronic diseases, health promotion and disease prevention strategies focused on nutrition have the potential to improve the health status of residents of Newfoundland and Labrador. Collectively, avenues such as the encouragement of healthy eating by family physicians and the promotion of nutrition education tools such as Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating have the potential to promote health in Newfoundland and Labrador. The purpose of the present study was to examine family physicians' attitudes and behaviours pertaining to the delivery of nutrition information to patients and to assess potential factors related to awareness and use of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating in Newfoundland and Labrador residents. -- To determine Newfoundland and Labrador family physicians' attitudes and behaviours pertaining to the promotion of nutrition, a self-administered questionnaire was mailed to all family physicians practicing in the province. A secondary analysis of data collected by Nutrition Newfoundland and Labrador was conducted to determine factors related to awareness and use of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating, focusing on sociodemographic factors, dietary intake, health risk associated with body size and participation in other healthful behaviours. Chi-square analyses of data were conducted, with a p-value<0.01 showing statistical significance. Sample weights were used to allow findings to represent the overall Newfoundland and Labrador population. -- Family physician respondents recognized the importance of nutrition to health, acknowledged their role in promoting nutrition to patients, but identified barriers to the delivery of nutrition information. The respondents appreciated the expertise of dietitians and would like to have more dietitians accessible to them. Most respondents were aware of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating (95.6%) and 82.3% find it useful when discussing nutrition with patients, but only 45.1% have it posted in their practice setting. -- In Newfoundland and Labrador, 82.9% of residents were aware of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating, but only 32.7% of those who were aware of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating reported that they use it. Analyses indicate that awareness of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating was positively associated with education level, income, being female, residing in an urban community, having children living at home and always having enough food to eat, and negatively associated with age. Use of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating was positively associated with age, education level, income, being female, being married, residing in an urban community and participation in a variety of health promoting behaviours. Dietary intake of energy, fat, vitamin C and potassium were also related to use of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating. -- This research suggests that there should be greater promotion of nutrition to the residents of this province using approaches such as interdisciplinary collaboration and promotion of nutrition education tools such as Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating.

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