- Only 49% of Canadian girls and 36% of Canadian boys eat breakfast on a regular basis.
Rampersaud GC, Pereira MA, Girard BL, Adams J, Metzl JD. "Breakfast Habits, Nutritional Status, Body Weight, and Academic Performance in Children and Adolescents." J Am Dietet Assoc 105(5) (2005): 743-760.
- 70% of children aged 4-8 years do not meet the minimum recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables. At ages 9-13, the figures are 62% for girls and 68% for boys.
Health Canada, Statistics Canada, & The Canadian Institute for Health Information. "Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)." Nutrition (2004).
- More than 1 in 4 preschool children in Newfoundland and Labrador are already overweight or obese. The magnitude of the problem may reflect the fact that the province's rate of overweight and obesity among older children and adults are the highest in the country.
Canning PM, Courage ML, Frizzell LM. "Prevalence of overweight and obesity in a provincial population of Canadian preschool children." CMAJ 171(3) (2004): 240-242.
- Inadequately nourished children score lower on vocabulary, reading, comprehension, arithmetic and general knowledge tests and have poorer psychosocial outcomes.
Brown L, Pollitt E. "Malnutrition, poverty and intellectual development." Scientific American Magazine 274(2) (February 1996): 38-43.
- Students from schools participating in a coordinated program that incorporated recommendation for school based healthy eating programs exhibited significantly lower rates of overweight and obesity, had healthier diets and reported more physical activities than students from schools without nutrition programs.
Veugelers PJ, Fitzgerald AL. "Effectiveness of School Programs in Preventing Childhood Obesity: A Multilevel Comparison. American Journal of Public Health 95(3) (March 2005): 432-435.
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