Studious Sunday: Are Campus Food Bank Hampers Healthy?

Welcome to another edition of Studious Sundays where we break down an academic study every second week to learn more about diet, farming, the environment and other topics surrounding the food we eat. We know it's hard, if not impossible, to keep up with studies and news about food while leading a busy lifestyle, so we are making it a little bit easier to stay informed and make simple, meaningful changes in your life. This week, we're looking at a study that investigates the relationship between children's video games and computer time with quality of diet. 

The Study: Nutritional Quality and Price of Food Hampers Distributed by a Campus Food Bank: A Canadian Experience, Jessri et al., 2014.

The Breakdown: Food insecurity is the inability of a household or individual to access healthy, nutritious and culturally appropriate food at all times. Unsurprisingly, post-secondary students, especially those relying on financial aid, are at a high risk to become food insecure. Food banks both on campus and off-campus exist to provide immediate assistance to those experiencing hunger or food insecurity. 

This study investigates the Campus Food Bank (CFB) at the University of Edmonton to determine whether the hampers distributed meet the requirements for a healthy diet. The CFB provides various sizes of hampers for different sizes of households, each which are meant to provide food for four days. All hampers are similar, except eggs are provided for four-person hampers, and only one litre of milk (as opposed to two litres) is provided for hampers for fewer than three people. Hampers for children include peanut butter and yogurt if possible. The main factors that determine the "menus" for hampers are available items from donations, the four-day volume requirement, and cost. 

The study evaluated the contents of five sizes of hampers over three years to determine whether the hampers met daily nutritional guidelines for an adult male, as well as to compare the quality of the hampers that contained perishable and non-perishable food items. The dietary indicators reviewed included total caloric intake, fat, protein, carbohydrate, fibre, as well as vitamins and minerals.

The Results: Data from 1024 unique CFB clients were analysed. 60% of users were female, 40% male, and over 91% were full-time students at the University of Alberta. Both undergraduate and graduate students made frequent use of the CFB, and 7% of users were University of Alberta staff. 

The study found significant positive changes in the hampers provided between 2006 and 2011, with more perishable food items, like fresh vegetables, fruit and milk, being included in hampers of all sizes. 

The dietary quality of the hampers varied based on the size of hamper provided: the single-person hamper provided between 2668-3251 calories per day, but while this per-person caloric value remained the same for two and three-person hampers, it decreased for larger sizes. Hampers for one to three people met the requirements of all four food groups, with an over-supply of grain products once non-perishable items were included. For hampers for four to five individuals, the milk & milk alternative food requirement was not met. 

All hampers were deficient in vitamin A and zinc, and vitamin C and folate were borderline insufficient for hamper recipients. While caloric needs were met from the hampers, the researchers discussed the oversupply of calories from carbohydrates and the lack of dietary fat provided by the hampers, as well as the lack of animal protein. 

While the addition of perishable food items created a significant improvement in hamper quality, they were only available through donations. 

How You Can Make a Change: While our thoughts go from summer vacations to back to school, it's important to remember that food insecurity impacts thousands of families in Edmonton, especially during times of increased expenses (like September!). 

The Campus Food Bank needs donations of fresh food (and non-perishable food) for food-insecure University of Alberta students, faculty, and staff. You can learn more about donating here.  

Donating to the Food Bank is also a meaningful way to help those families in need, and what better way to ring in the new school year by helping Edmonton students (both young and grown) fuel their studies healthfully! The Food Bank always accepts donations of fresh food at their warehouse at 11508-120 Street. 

Donate Fresh Food at SWEFM: Twice a year, SWEFM hosts the Food Bank for our Harvest Festival, where you can donate fresh produce to families in need. It's a great way to celebrate the harvest season and share local, fresh, healthy food with all Edmontonians. Our first Harvest Festival is on August 26 and there are two ways to donate: 

1. Bring Your Garden Fresh Veggies! The Food Bank runs a wonderful program called Plant a Row, Grow a Row where you plant a row of vegetables in the springtime and donate them in the fall. The Food Bank volunteers will love your garden fresh vegetables this Wednesday! To find out what types of veggies they love, read our post about PARGAR here.

2. Buy Your Favourite Market Produce! Don't have a garden? No problem! You can purchase your favourite vegetables from SWEFM vendors and donate them to the Food Bank on-site. It's a great way to share the delicious local gems at our market with food-insecure families in Edmonton!

Thank you for joining us for Studious Sunday! If you have any comments or stories about sedentary activity and diet, please tweet us @SWEFM_YEG or post on our Facebook page at facebook.com/swefm.ca. You can find this week's study online here.

Studious Sunday: Video Games and Junk Food- Oh My!

Welcome to another edition of Studious Sundays where we break down an academic study every week to learn more about diet, farming, the environment and other topics surrounding the food we eat. We know it's hard, if not impossible, to keep up with studies and news about food while leading a busy lifestyle, so we are making it a little bit easier to stay informed and make simple, meaningful changes in your life. This week, we're looking at a study that investigates the relationship between children's video games and computer time with quality of diet. 

The Study: Exploring the Relationship between Diet and TV, Computer and Video Game Use in a Group of Canadian Children, Tomlin et. al, 2014

The Breakdown: We all know that spending more time being sedentary watching television, using the computer, or playing video games isn't necessarily good for our health. This 2014 Canadian study investigates how the amount of sedentary time, particularly time spent playing video games and using the computer, impacts children's diets.

The majority of research studying the relationship between sedentary activity and diet has been limited to television viewing, where children's hands are free to snack. These studies demonstrated that increased time watching television also increased the probability for a poor diet. Video games and computer time, however, leave less opportunity for snacking and feature fewer food-related advertisements, so the researchers wanted to determine whether increased time spent playing video games and using the computer was related to a poorer diet with more "junk" food. 

The researchers studied the relationship between screen time (both the type of the screen time and the amount of it) and diet indicators, including consumption of calories, fat, vegetables, fruit, and sugar sweetened beverages. The research participants were 1494 school-aged children from British Columbia. The study included a 24-hour dietary recall where the children were asked to report everything they ate the day before, as well as a activity recall of the amount of time spent doing various activities including playing video games and using the computer. 

A statistical analysis followed (multiple linear regression analysis for the diet variables and multiple regression analysis for the activity), where the researchers determined the relationship between sedentary time and dietary variables and the type of sedentary time and dietary variables. 

The Results: Increased television time was correlated with a higher consumption of calories, fat, sugar, and sugar-sweetened beverages, and a lower consumption of vegetables, and fibre. In fact, every additional hour of television could predict an increased intake of 19 mL of sugar sweetened beverages and 4.4 grams of sugar! These results were consistent with previous research demonstrating the relationship between television viewing and poorer diet, but what about those other sedentary activities that don't leave little hands free for munching?
Increased computer time was associated with higher calorie consumption, but the relationship between computer time and other dietary indicators including sugar, fibre, fat and vegetable consumption was insignificant. 

Video game time, however, was even more strongly associated with increased consumption of calories, sugar and sugar-sweetened beverages than television; one additional hour spent playing video games could predict an increased intake of 38 mL of sugar-sweetened beverages and 6.8 grams of sugar! Video game time was also found to be related to an increased consumption of fat and carbohydrates, as well as a reduced intake of fibre. 

When activities were pooled into total sedentary time (including sedentary activities other than television, computer and video games) and total screen time, total screen time and total sedentary time predict intake of calories, fat, sugar and sugar-sweetened beverages, and total screen time also predicts the intake of fibre.

How You Can Make a Change: This study demonstrates that when children are more sedentary, especially when they're watching television and playing video games, they are more likely to eat unhealthy food. We learn from this research that there are two ways to help improve children's health: one, to limit time spent playing video games, watching television and being sedentary, and two, to limit snacks consumed during sedentary activities to fruits and vegetables!


Ways to Increase Activity and Reduce Junk Food Intake at SWEFM: Our market knows it can be tough to get kids outside and eating healthy snacks in the summer! That's why we make SWEFM a place for families to get families playing and eating healthy week after week. Here are our top five ways to get kids moving and eating fruits and vegetables at market:

5. Nutrition Tours: We have nutrition students from the University of Alberta on site to help you pick out the best snacks for your family ad answer any nutrition-related questions.
4. Bouncy Castle: There's nothing sedentary about climbing up a giant slide and tumbling down or jumping in a bouncy castle! Our bouncy castles are set up every good-weather day.
3. Hopscotch: We draw an elaborate hopscotch for kids to play on every week at SWEFM, which is a great (free) way to have fun and get moving at market!
2. Sprouts Program for Kids: Having your child choose their own fruit or vegetable snack for their sedentary activities is a great way to empower them to make the right snacking choices.
1. Zumba: There's nothing better than Zumba to get children active and excited to move! No Excuses provides a free Zumba class at market every nice-weather week.

Thank you for joining us for Studious Sunday! If you have any comments or stories about sedentary activity and diet, please tweet us @SWEFM_YEG or post on our Facebook page at facebook.com/swefm.ca. You can find this week's study online here.

Studious Sunday: Farmers' Market Fun

Welcome to another edition of our new blog series, Studious Sundays! For the rest of market season, we will be breaking down an academic study every second week to learn more about diet, farming, the environment and other topics surrounding the food we eat. We know it's hard, if not impossible, to keep up with studies and news about food while leading a busy lifestyle, so we are making it a little bit easier to stay informed and make simple, meaningful changes in your life. This week, we are looking at a study that describes some of the best benefits of farmers' market shopping. 

The Study: A Tale of Four Farmers' Markets: Recreation and Leisure as a Catalyst for Sustainability, Farmer et. al, 2011

The Breakdown: Farmer's markets have increased in popularity in the past two decades in Canada and the United States. This increase of farmers' market shopping is attributed to farmers' markets' economic benefits as well as their ability to strengthen local communities and reduce environmental impacts of food purchases. This 2010 study took a case-study approach to investigate the factors that encourage guests to visit farmers' markets and the perceived benefits of visiting farmers' markets. 

The researchers followed two phases in their investigation. Phase 1 included in-depth interviews with farmers' market visitors and non-farmers' market visitors, and Phase 2 included observations at four Indiana farmers' markets. The interviews were intended to understand why guests shop at farmers' markets and the benefits they received from attending, and the observations were to provide the context for the interviews.  

The interviews for participants who do visit farmers' markets consisted of questions regarding the frequency guests shop at farmers' markets, the types of goods purchased, and what they like and dislike about their local market. The questions for non-farmers' market shoppers included questions about where they purchase food, whether they know about farmers' markets in their area, and what keeps them from buying food at farmers' markets. 

The four farmers' markets selected for observation were chosen due to a variety of economic and spacial factors where the markets reside, as well as the overall success of the markets themselves.

The Results: The strongest reasons for shopping at farmers' markets among interview participants included recreation, fresh food and supporting local economies. Constraints to visiting farmers' markets included prices and convenience.

Surprisingly, recreation arose more frequently than food in discussions about farmers' markets, as participants indicated time to visit with friends, listen to music and run into people in their community were the main benefits of attending farmers' markets. The farmers' market atmosphere, opportunities for children to play and access to a social gathering place were all discussed as important aspects of farmers' markets. One participant mentioned their farmers' market was "a great place to go with the family to spend some time outside", and another mentioned enjoying the opportunity to dance!

Farmer et. al discuss that because recreation plays a large role in farmers' market benefits, markets can play a large part in strengthening community and promoting community sustainability. The researchers argue that farmers' markets not only provide environmental benefits by promoting seasonal eating, but they are a venue for social interactions that can lead to discussions around environmental and social justice.

How You Can Make a Change: This study not only tells us why we shop at farmers' markets, but gives us hints as to how to make our market experience even better! By taking a bit more time at market to talk with our friends and family, visit with community groups and (importantly!) dance, we can not only benefit more from our visit, but strengthen our community as well!

Ways to Connect and Have Fun at SWEFM: Our community farmers' market is more than just a great place to load up on your favourite local foods and crafts. We are a vibrant gathering place that is just waiting to be enjoyed by you and your family! Here are our top five ways to connect with the community and have fun at SWEFM:

5. Food Truck Dinner with Friends and Family: There's nothing better than sitting down to eat outside and having a nice long chat with your favourite people!

4. Listening to Buskers: Our buskers are talented folks, and taking some time to stop and listen to some great music is one of the best ways to enjoy our market.
3. Zumba Dancing: Our friends from No Excuses offer free Zumba every week for kids and adults alike to have a blast and get moving!

2. Visiting the Community Tent: Every week, SWEFM hosts a community organization in our Community Tent. Stopping by each week to learn about what is happening in your community is a great way to support good work being done in our area.
1. Volunteering: Our volunteers are the best in the city and make SWEFM the vibrant community gathering place it is! If you'd like to help out, email swefm.manager@gmail.com.

Thank you for joining us for Studious Sunday! If you have any comments or stories about healthy snacking to share, please tweet us @SWEFM_YEG or post on our Facebook page at facebook.com/swefm.ca. You can find this week's study online here.

Citation: Farmer, J.R., Chancellor, C., Gooding, A., Shubowitz, D., Bryant, A. (2011) A Tale of Four Farmers' Markets: Recreation and Leisure as a Catalyst for Sustainability. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 29:3, pp. 11-23.
 

Studious Sunday: Snacking Stacks Up!

Welcome to our brand-new blog series, Studious Sundays! For the rest of market season, we will be breaking down an academic study every second week to learn more about diet, farming, the environment and other topics surrounding the food we eat. We know it's hard, if not impossible, to keep up with studies and news about food while leading a busy lifestyle, so we are making it a little bit easier to stay informed and make simple, meaningful changes in your life. It's the perfect series to enjoy while sipping on a coffee and snacking on your favourite farmers' market fruit or vegetables... which just happens to be the topic of this week's study!

The Study: Fruits and vegetables as a healthier snack throughout the day among families with older children: Findings from a survey of parent–child dyads. Smith et. al, 2015. 

The Breakdown: This study, which took place in the United States, addresses the fact that many children do not consume enough fruit and vegetables in their daily lives. There are many health implications resulting from a lack of fruit and vegetables, including nutrient deficiencies, body weight problems, and increased cancer risk. A small increase in consumption of fruit and vegetables has been shown to significantly improve not only health, but also behavioural issues in children.

In their study, Smith et. al investigate the relationship between snacking on fruit and vegetables, as opposed to eating fruit and vegetables primarily during mealtimes, with overall fruit and vegetable consumption. The authors studied this relationship among 1704 parent-children pairs where the children were between the ages of 9 and 18. 

The parents were asked through a survey how they served fruit and vegetables to their children: during meals (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) and/or as snacks (in the morning, during the day, or at night). The children were asked whether they consumed fruit and vegetables the day before, and the number of times they ate fruit or vegetables that day. Data was also collected regarding the Body Mass Index of the participating children. 

A statistical analysis followed where the researchers determined the relationship between the serving method of fruit and vegetables and the frequency those foods were consumed. They took into account factors that would skew the results, like socio-economic factors, gender, and age.  

The Results: Unsurprisingly, the families where the parents reported providing fruit and vegetables both in meals and as snacks had a higher overall consumption of fruit and vegetables among the children surveyed. Families who ate fruit and vegetables only during mealtimes consumed fewer fruits and vegetables overall than those who also served them as snacks.

Interestingly, while the majority of parents who reported providing these healthy snacks were providing their children with fruit, children were more likely to report eating fruits and vegetables when provided with vegetables as snacks in the morning, during the day, and at night. Serving fruit as a snack was unlikely to change the consumption of fruits and vegetables as a whole.

How you can make a change: This study demonstrates that simply switching your family's snacks to fruit or (even more importantly) vegetables can significantly increase your children's consumption of fruit and vegetables overall. It's an easy change that will improve your family's health and, with a little bit of prep, may just save you money in the long run! And remember, children follow their parents' lead, so be sure to put those healthy snacks on your plate as well!

Simple Fruit and Vegetable snacks at SWEFM: Our community farmers' market is a great place to load up on fresh, simple fruit and vegetable snacks for the week. From fresh carrots that are small enough to eat without cutting, to bags of cucumbers and cherry tomatoes and fruit cups that can be purchased with a Sprouts token, our market is a great place to load up on the season's best snacks. Here are our top five easy, healthy snacks from our wonderful vendors at SWEFM:

5. Fruit Cups and Fruit Mixed Packs from Steve & Dan's, Red Apple and AIG Produce

4. Fresh Peaches and Nectarines from Steve & Dan's, Red Apple and AIG Produce

3. Mini Cucumbers from S4 Greenhouses and Riverbend Gardens
2. Sweet Shelling Peas from Riverbend Gardens, Dargatz Family Farm and Holden Colony
1. Fresh Baby Carrots from Riverbend Gardens, Dargatz Family Farm and Holden Colony

Thank you for joining us for our first Studious Sunday! If you have any comments or stories about healthy snacking to share, please tweet us @SWEFM_YEG or post on our Facebook page at facebook.com/swefm.ca. You can find this week's study online here.

Citation: Smith, T.M., Pinard, C.A., Shanks, C.M., Wethington, H., Blanck, H.M., and Yaroch, A.L. 2015. Fruits and vegetables as a healthier snack throughout the day among families with older children: Findings from a survey of parent-child dyads. Eating Behaviors (17) pp. 136-139. DOI:  10.1016/j.eatbeh.2015.01.006