Food policy on the menu as global experts descend on UCalgary

Global experts, industry players and policy-makers from across Canada and the U.S. will descend on the University of Calgary to chew over the complex dilemma of unhealthy diets — a leading risk factor for death and disability in this country.

The free, two-day forum, presented by the Cumming School of Medicine’s Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta and the O’Brien Institute for Public Health, will look at Canada’s revamped food guide, the federal government’s national food strategy, and explore opportunities in policy to increase access to nutritious foods in schools, restaurants and markets.

“This forum really is about transforming the way people think about food,” explains Dr. Norm Campbell, MD, a general internist, professor and a leading expert in hypertension.

Hasan Hutchinson, director general of the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion at Health Canada, which oversees the development of the new food guide and national strategy, will be a keynote speaker at the June 18-19 forum at UCalgary’s Downtown Campus.

Olympic icon and former senator Nancy Greene Raine, who has championed a bill to restrict marketing of unhealthy foods to kids, will deliver the keynote address on June 19.

“In 2016, the Senate report on Canada’s rising rates of obesity was clear," says Greene Raine. "There is no easy solution, but it’s a combination of calories in and calories out, and for many Canadians this has become unbalanced. I’m pleased that my bill to prohibit the targeted marking of junk food to children is about to be passed, it’s a step in the right direction.”

Greene Raine and Hutchinson will be joined by more than two dozen leading experts, including:

• Dr. Kim Kessler, JD, assistant commissioner for the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
• Dr. Mary L’Abbé, PhD, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Nutrition Policy for Chronic Disease Prevention and chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto
• Dr. Alfred Aziz, PhD, chief of Nutrition Regulations and Standards Division at Health Canada
• Dr. Kim Raine, PhD, scientific director of the Centre for Health and Nutrition at the University of Alberta
• Dr. Charlene Elliott, PhD, UCalgary professor and Canada Research Chair in Food Marketing, Policy and Children’s Health

“As Canada prepares for these changes, we want people to understand why better, evidence-based nutrition policy is important,” says Campbell, who chairs the scientific committee behind the forum.

Among other things, the forum will examine food marketing to children, provincial and national policy plans, and opportunities to improve nutrition and increase access to healthy foods for all Canadians regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnicity or geographical location.

“If you look at the dietary related diseases, they’re concentrated in the lower socio-economic groups of our country. Obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, they all group in that lower socio-economic strata,” says Campbell.

The cost of doing nothing is staggering. One study published in April estimates the economic burden of chronic diseases due to unhealthy eating cost Canadian health-care systems nearly $14 billion in 2014.

Dr. Dana Olstad, PhD, is a registered dietitian and an assistant professor at UCalgary whose research aims to understand the role policy can play in addressing dietary inequity between socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and their advantaged counterparts. She says the federal government’s new food strategy is a huge step in the right direction, but more needs to be done.

“Health Canada’s Healthy Eating Strategy takes important, world-leading action to address poor diet quality among Canadians,” Olstad says. “However, because many of the factors that shape dietary intake are outside the control of the health sector, we hope that other government departments will also consider how their actions shape Canadians’ dietary intake.”

The forum will also explore innovations emerging from the public, private and non-profit sectors — things like food and media literacy programs for kids, nutrition apps, and ethnoculturally targeted nutrition websites, says Dr. Aleem Bharwani, MD, lead for Public Policy at the O’Brien Institute and a member of the forum’s scientific committee.

“Innovation in nutrition is not just about government policy, though government-level policy is critical,” he says. “Once government sets the parameters, it is for the three sectors to work within these parameters to create value for citizens. It is an active process which we hope to inspire and contextualize at this forum.”

The forum takes place June 18 and 19 at UCalgary’s Downtown Campus. The event is free, but registration is required. Click here to secure a seat and see the full agenda. Canadian Pacific is a valued sponsor of this event.

Dr. Norm Campbell is a professor in the departments of Medicine, Community Health Sciences and Physiology and Pharmacology, and is a member of the O’Brien Institute and the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta at CSM.

Dr. Aleem Bharwani is the director for public policy and strategic partnerships at CSM and policy lead for the O’Brien Institute at CSM.

Dr. Dana Olstad, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at CSM, an adjunct academic professor at the University of Alberta and a member of the O’Brien and Libin institutes.