Part 1: Tourist Dietary Guide Book
Canada’s Food Guide
Canada’s dietary guidelines stipulate how the citizens in Canada, including those touring Canada, should respond to health and nutrition issues for their well-being. The guidelines provide comprehensive information to all categories of people concerning their eating habits and their bodies’ nutrition requirements. Keen emphasis is usually put on infants as well as old age individuals. Breastfeeding mothers and those in the infancy stage are also guided on strict and disciplined complementary dietary programs. Focus on this class of people, especially lactating mothers, is highly emphasized because of infants’ immunologic protection, growth, and development.
The Canadian food guide is instrumental in promoting healthy eating habits. More importantly, it is key in advancing the nutritional well-being of Canadians. Once these objectives are actualized, the Canadian food environment measures are boosted. The food guide is not only intended for health professionals but also policymakers. These individuals are always in the frontline of mediating the government’s efforts of creating a robust food environment with individuals in various communities. They are crucial in providing relevant information and doing thorough food nutrition awareness to members of the public. From such guidelines, the government can make relevant policies and programs that guide the Canadian population. Educational resources can also be generated from the information acquired that is beneficial to Canadians as well as international tourists. Those with specific and unique dietary requirements are easily factored in a system where there is comprehensive coverage of different classes of people. Similarly, those receiving care in a clinical setting can easily get specialized dietitian advice and be able to make well-informed decisions on their health. All these factors taken into account make it easier for individuals, more so tourists, to adapt to new environments where the available food components are different from their culture’s.
The United States Food Guide
The United States federal government, in conjunction with the state government, has developed dietary guidelines designed to suit Americans’ eating habits. These guidelines provided are detailed enough to questions on how individuals can improve and develop new effective eating patterns. Emphasis is made on finding the most profound combination of foods and drinks that can provide the best nutrition solutions to public domain members.
The government’s efforts to ensure the most effective diet plans for its people using the knowledge provided by policymakers and nutrition and health experts have come up with several strategies to meet this objective. One of them is improving access to nutritious food products such as fruits and vegetables to individuals and families as well as children (Clark et al., 2019). The government has taken strides in achieving this through its collaborations with farmers’ markets. Farmers’ markets can institute nutrition programs suited for the targetted groups of people, including women, infants, and children (Clark et al., 2019). By connecting with stakeholders in the food industry to ensure they provide healthier foods in public places, the government can seal off loopholes in the food service guidelines.
Similarities Between Canada’s And The United States Food Guide.
A close-up analysis of the dietary food guidelines in these two countries reveals a close connection that an individual traveling from the United States to Canada or vice versa can easily adapt to their new food environment. One outstanding similarity in both food guides is that they both have a focused nutritional campaign for a specific class of people. They both mostly target women, infants, and children. This group of individuals is perceived to require occasional guidance on their eating patterns (Garbinski, 2015). A woman disciplined in healthy dieting will most likely give rise to infants who are not easily susceptive to diseases because of an improved immune system.
Another clear similarity is that policymakers and health professionals conduct the food guidelines. This category of people can transfer the public’s knowledge in a more informed and evidence-based manner. Another major reason is that both policymakers and nutrition experts have the necessary certification to advise members of the public on the relevant information pertaining to their health status.
Differences Between Canada’s And The United States Food Guide.
One of the distinctions is the difference in nutrient content claims in different food categories. Both countries have different food regulatory bodies which set different nutrient content claims based on their researched information and scientific knowledge (Garbinski, 2015). This disparity in the food information adopted by both countries can be misleading or hard to be adopted by a tourist from either country or another country with a different food guide.
The development of food labeling in both countries is totally different. The difference in food regulatory organizations means that the nutrition labeling will be based on how the policymakers deem appropriate for their citizens (Garbinski, 2015). The information provided on calories and other nutrients in a similar product manufactured independently from either country would project different results. Consequently, the huge difference in population, disparities in age brackets, gender, race, and geographical distribution of people between both countries contributes to a different presentation of the dietary guidelines. This situation arises because those guided are exposed to different tastes and preferences regarding food and beverage uptake.
Population Food In The United States
The most notable population food in America is chicken with modified recipes of grilling or frying. The taste for chicken has immensely outgrown that of different burger varieties (Desilver, 2016). This trend is attributed majorly due to the uprising fast-food restaurants that offer tantalizing chicken options. Numerous franchise stores from big house names such as CHICKEN INN and KFC have greatly contributed to this American popular food shift. However, the wide geographical distribution of citizens in the United States has contributed to the challenges in harmonizing the dietary food guidelines in all the states (Desilver, 2016). The federal and state governments have different food service regulatory boards that do not always agree with some food guidelines. The guidelines issued by the United States Department of Human Service (USDHHS) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are eventually consolidated to tackle the issues that arise from the geographical challenge.
(Desilver, 2016).
Recipe Of Population Food
A brief recipe for making an all-American chicken involves two simple steps. First of all, the chicken is marinated whole in barbeque sauce for excellent results for a minimum of 12 hours. Next is to grill and serve it with extra barbeque sauce.
Based on the Canadian food guide, the recipe for the population food in the United States will be modified to include natural herbs such as garlic and ginger in the margination process. Americans are more prone to processed foods than Canadian whose dietary body, Health Canada, emphasizes more on real foods. The new modified recipe will involve marinating the chicken whole in a mixture of maple syrup, crushed garlic, and ginger overnight. The chicken is then grilled to the recommended standard.
Most Americans’ poor eating patterns in terms of dwelling too much on processed foods have contributed to a high prevalence of chronic diseases. Coupled with a lack of physical exercise, this trend is majorly witnessed in the older generation. Most Americans, regardless of race and gender have a higher liking to fast food products rich in processed ingredients (Clark et al., 2019). Constant uptake of these processed foods and beverages only contributes to more cases of heart attacks and other related chronic conditions. Similarly, the geographical factor has a hand to play in the prevalence of chronic illness due to limited access to the necessary nutritional components essential in tackling chronic diseases (Raghupathi, 2018). Some states have harsh weather conditions which do not support livestock farming as well farming of fruits and vegetables. This geographical phenomenon hence means the acquisition of these resources would be too pricey for some communities. Most people would choose to opt for the supermarkets’ affordable processed products, which gradually results in their susceptibility to chronic ailments (Raghupathi, 2018). The eventual outcome is the rise in mortality rates associated with chronic diseases, as demonstrated in the figure below (Clark et al., 2019). The figure below also shows the association between a food group on mortality and the average relative environmental impact.
(Clark et al., 2019)
Part 2: Learning Journal
A Learning Journal Describing Dietary Guidelines In The United States
This journal aims to outline the procedures used to understand food nutrition in the United States. It aims at equipping our tourists with adequate knowledge based on food handling, food safety, food quality, and food processing. According to previous research on this area, the food industry in the United States considers complementary factors that aid in food control (Garbinski, 2015). These are nutrition, safety, quality, and value. Research stating the overall view of health and diet in the United States characterizes the population as having poor dietary lifestyles, not because of undernutrition but due to consuming food contents in excesses (Raghupathi, 2018). For instance, Americans tend to take in too much added sugars, saturated fats, calories, sodium, among others. Various procedures used to obtain information about people’s nutritional and dietary intake include government statistics and other online sources.
According to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, some guidelines which encourage healthy eating habits are outlined (USDHHS, 2020). They involve sticking to a healthy eating pattern, where there’s choosing a healthy food intake pattern with a considerable level of calories to aid in attaining healthy and ideal body weight. This ensures sufficient nutrients and a low risk of exposure to diseases. Focusing on a variety of nutrient-rich foods while sticking to the recommended amount within a specific range of calories is essential. Again, a limited amount of calories from the intake of saturated fats and added sugars and a reduced amount of sodium in the diet are important. There is a need to reduce portions of food and beverages rich in these contents to an amount that’s healthy for consumption. Additionally, people need to shift towards healthy, nutrient-rich food rather than less healthy food.
The Dietary Guidelines issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Department of Health and Human Services indicate that a healthy eating pattern includes a vast variety of fruits, preferably whole fruits and various vegetables. These vegetables include leafy green, legumes, orange and red, and starchy, among others (USDA, 2020). Protein foods are also in variety and should be taken in plenty. They include poultry meat, seafood, eggs, nuts, legumes, seeds, soy products, and lean meat. For a healthy eating lifestyle, certain foods should be limited or eliminated (Raghupathi, 2018). There needs to be a reduced rate of consumption of added sugars, sodium, and saturated fats, such that a person needs to consume calories of at most 10 percent daily from these elements. Alcohol consumption should moderate one drink maximum for women and two drinks for men daily. These key recommendations are useful in helping Americans achieve healthy eating habits and identify ways to encourage good eating patterns.
References
Clark, M., Springmann, M., & Hill, J. (2019, November 12). Multiple health and environmental impacts of foods. PNAS. https://www.pnas.org/content/116/46/23357
DESILVER, D. (2020, May 30). How America’s diet has changed over time. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/12/13/whats-on-your-table-how-americas-diet-has-changed-over-the-decades/
GARBINSKI, D. (2015, October 16). Canadians eat better than Americans. Botanical Nutrition. https://www.botanicalnutrition.com/canadians-eat-better-than-americans/
Raghupath, W. (2018). An empirical study of chronic diseases in the United States: A visual analytics approach to public health. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5876976/
USDA. (2020). Dietary health. https://www.usda.gov/topics/food-and-nutrition/dietary-health
USDHHS. (2020, December 29). 2015-2020 dietary guidelines. Home of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion – health.gov. https://health.gov/our-work/food-nutrition/previous-dietary-guidelines/2015
