The Miracle of Yourself

This week marks the end of National Nutrition Month, when there is a spotlight on questions about food and eating practices.
Public health nurses at the Health Centre in Fort Smith advise the public on dietary needs, discussed nutritional issues and gave advice on eating healthy.
Dianna Korol, manager of primary community care at the Fort Smith Health Centre advocates “fresher is better.” She said the more processed food is, the worse it likely is for your body. A rule of thumb; the longer food took to prepare, probably the better it is for you.
Julie Meekel, a homecare registered nurse, recommends eating regular meals rather than snacking and grazing.
Another strategy is portion control, said Korol. People often put too much on their plates and then feel they have to finish it.
A lot of information is available from Canada’s Food Guide, courtesy of Health Canada. The health staff The Journal spoke to mentioned it often. The food guide offers a system of tracking how much food and what kinds of food we eat each day. There are daily recommended intakes of the four food groups and ways of understanding other things about the food we eat (or shouldn’t eat) like different kinds of fats.
The food guide is available through Public Health or at schools and colleges. It’s also on the internet at www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index_e.html
There’s also a NWT Food Guide through the Department of Health and Social Services. The NWT guide includes more Northern staples such as bannock and caribou.
The nurses acknowledged some of the difficulties in getting a varied diet. Most fruits and vegetables are transported from afar. Drinking fruit juice meets the needs for a fruit serving, although it lacks the benefit of the fibre you would get from eating an actual piece of fruit. Canned fruit will suffice if there’s no salt added and it is not packed in sugar.
Fibre is great, said the health workers, because it helps you feel full. Korol called it “the old oatmeal-for-breakfast theory.”
Keeping your body-mass-index (BMI) down is important, agreed the women and everyone should know how to calculate that and be tuned into it. Obesity and diabetes are the two biggest nutritional issues of the community, both of which can happen from a BMI that is too high.
It’s especially important to teach kids proper diet. “It sets their eating habits for life when they’re older,” said Korol. Nutrition is taught in schools, it is part of the school curriculum starting in kindergarten so parents have that to work with. Kids know what is good for them, but too often the bad habits of parents are passed on.