Commentary – Food for thought on food environments in Canada

摘要

As a whole, the environments in which we make our food choices do not typically reinforce and support healthy behaviours. The Canadian food environment in which we live, work, and play is failing to provide and promote healthy diets; as a result, Canada has seen high and continually rising rates of overweight and obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) across the life course and among all sectors of society, with particularly high rates among vulnerable populations (such as Indigenous populations and those with low socioeconomic status). Swinburn and colleagues conceptualized the food environment as “the collective physical, economic, policy and sociocultural surroundings, opportunities and conditions that influence people’s food and beverage choices and nutritional status.” ^{Footnote 1} The scope of what is captured by the term “food environment” is broad, and includes such areas as food access and availability; food promotion and pricing; food labelling; the nutritional composition of the food supply and foods provided in public and private sector settings; and the retail food environment. These areas are influenced by the major actors that play roles in establishing a healthy food environment, including government (health, education, agriculture, finance, and international trade, among others), the food industry, and civil society more broadly.