Last Saturday I was impressed with a news related to the food guide in Canada. In 1942 Canada created the national Food Guide which has not been updated since then.

While the article from CBC News informed that changes to the Canada Food Guide will come soon, it also mentions that Canadians don’t have the time or the money to follow these recommendations.

Canada was ranked in 2017 by UNICEF in the 37^th out of 41 high-income countries where kids can access nutritious food. Despite of having this access, it has been noted that children are not eating the daily servings recommended by the guides.

Through the years several guides have been created to explain how to improve your health through feeding. Each guide includes information based on the studies to provide the best guidance to reduce malnourished and obesity issues. After 106 years, 8 different guides have been released to provide support to Nutrition educators.  At the end none of them have resolved the issues with children malnourished.

Images integrated from: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/brief-history-usda-food-guides

It is a reality that kids eat what they have learned from their parents and later from their friends. In addition to following the indications for healthy meals, it is necessary to adhere to the amount recommended for each group. Having a combination of nutrients and quantities ensure a balance in the requirements that each child has to cover in order to growth up and develop properly.

Picture from: https://www.parents.com/recipes/nutrition/how-much-does-my-kid-need-to-eat/

If the kids are exposed to the variety of food from each group since really early age, it is more likely that they continue having healthy habits for long time. Sometimes, despite that parents want to offer their kids the right meals, the cost of the fruits, vegetables, meat and even cereals have been increased year by year. This makes the food not affordable for most of the families. Moreover, the lack of time to prepare proper meals leaves with processed food and fast food that are cheaper and with inappropriate nutritious content.

Picture from: https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/how-to-make-kids-eat-vegetables-tips-for-parents/

I consider that is not enough creating guides to understand what and how much to eat if the economical and time factor is not resolved hand by hand. In today’s fast paced life, parents have to work more hours than in the past and nowadays usually both parents have to work leaving them less time for cooking. Furthermore, the income from both parents is not enough for acquiring healthy food. The result is leaving kids with future health problems and bad habits that will be taught to their kids.

Picture from: https://grannysvitalvittles.com/real-food-economics-101-real-food-vs-average-food-budgets/

If you want to know more about this topic, write me at ms_sieres@yahoo.com.mx