Canadian Pharmacists Journal - May/June 2019 - 153

COMMENTARY
EDITORIAL
mobile-first online solution. The government has proposed
that the Dietary Guidance Policy be further broken down with
staged releases of the new Food Guide35 and Canada's Dietary
Guidelines36 (which were released in January 2019) and health
eating patterns (planned release later in 2019).
The 2019 Food Guide35 has been built around 3 of the 4
guiding principles of the Dietary Guidelines,36 rather than
being a predominantly prescriptive food guide like the previous version. The key elements that have informed the new Food
Guide are as follows: 1) "foundation for healthy eating" (i.e.,
evidence-based foods that improve health),37 2) "foods and
beverages that undermine healthy eating" (i.e., evidence-based
foods that are detrimental to health)37 and 3) "importance of
food skills" (i.e., the skills and knowledge that are needed to be
able to implement points 1 and 2, as well as allowing people to
navigate the complex food environment that we live in). An
example of how a dietary guideline translates to the food guide
and then to policy would be the following: processed foods and
beverages are likely to contribute to excess sodium, free sugars
or saturated fat consumption, which undermine healthy eating.36 This then translates into a recommendation in the food
guide to "limit highly processed foods " and to "replace sugary drinks with water,"35 which, in theory, should tie to federal,
provincial or local policy changes around the use of trans fats
in industrially produced foods, taxation of sugary drinks or
purchasing practices38 (aspects that align with the fourth element of the Dietary Guidelines: implementation).
It is envisaged that these guiding principles will also be the
pillars for the development of Canada's Healthy Eating Pattern for Health Professionals and Policy Makers, which will
be part of the next release. Given the diversity of the Canadian population, it is clear that a static document that provides
rudimentary guidelines on food groups is probably going to
be inadequate to service the majority of Canadians. As such,
the proposed Canada's Healthy Eating Pattern suite of tools
will provide information on potential eating plans (i.e., more
specific guidance on the amounts and types of food based on
contextual considerations of an individual, such as sociodemographic data). It is anticipated that these will also incorporate
up-to-date statistical data from ongoing food surveillance surveys (e.g., Canadian Community Health Survey) and evolving
nutritional science data (e.g., systematic reviews of macro- and
micronutrient food intake and NCD risk). If achieved, these
"healthy eating patterns/plans" will provide tailored information that is up to date and context specific to any Canadian.
To ensure that the core tenets of the new Food Guide reach
as many people as possible, the fourth guiding principle of the
Dietary Guidelines36 focuses on implementation. Health Canada has indicated it is also developing a series of tools that will
hopefully improve the effectiveness of the guide. A series of
visual aids around key messaging and actionable tips, including simplified information and promoting food skills, have
already been developed,39 with dissemination through various
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media such as videos and social media already under way.
However, the critical driver of these efforts will be the development of an interactive web-based application. It is anticipated
that this mobile interface, which is due for release later in 2019,
will provide customized usable information that will enhance
the Food Guide experience for both the general population
and health care professionals.

The role of health care professionals in the new
Healthy Eating Strategy and Food Guide

Moving forward, there are 3 key areas where health care professionals will be critical for the success of the Healthy Eating
Strategy and Food Guide: consultation, implementation and
holding government to account.37
Consultation
Transparency in the food guideline development is a driving tenet in the new strategy. One criticism of previous food
guides was that too many vested interests were represented
(e.g., the food industry).40,41 The hallmarks of the current process include extensive consultation with health care professional, academic, patient, community and health care groups
(with all meetings and correspondence on healthy eating being
published on a website42) (Figure 1). Industry has not participated in the process. Moving forward, it is expected that this
will continue. It is intended that there will be continual consultation with key academic and clinical experts on the content
of the Dietary Guidance Policy, as well as user-driven changes
made to the web-based application and tools to enhance accessibility and usability.
Health Canada has facilitated this process by setting up a
Stakeholder Registry43 where anyone can sign up to participate
in the consultation process. As clinicians and academics, we
have an opportunity to ensure that all aspects of the Healthy
Eating Strategy stay current, meaningful and accessible.
Implementation
Ultimately, the success of the Healthy Eating Strategy will
be measured by the way it has affected the dietary habits of
Canadians and thus made meaningful improvements in the
long-term health of the nation. Although the government will
undoubtedly undertake a variety of campaigns to raise awareness of the various elements and tools of the Healthy Eating
Strategy and Food Guide, health care professionals will play a
significant role in implementing these at the individual level
and through our organizations at a population level.
It is hoped that the tools that will be developed, especially
around the Food Guide,39 will be pertinent for both patients
and health care professionals. Furthermore, making health care
professionals aware of these tools and how best to optimally
implement them will be important. Identifying the key drivers
of why and how health care professionals would want to incorporate these into their practice will be critical in empowering
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