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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

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Too much in, too little out

Posted: 10/25/2011 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Consumption of junk food has helped to boost Canadians’ daily calorie intake.

Re: Manitobans getting fatter, study shows (Oct. 22). As a professor of community nutrition at the University of Manitoba, I have two comments on this study. First, there was no discussion of the role of our diet, even though many studies now point to the huge gap between energy intake and output.

Canadians have increased their calorie intake by 417 per day since 1985, when obesity started taking off. This increase comes from soft drinks, junk and other ultra-processed foods that people now eat every day and can't be balanced with a few rounds at the gym.

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Second, given the sheer number of overweight Manitobans, 15 per cent more visits to the doctor by overweight individuals will translate into millions of dollars over decades.

This is money that would be better used in real prevention programs, such as food literacy training through the school system.

JOYCE SLATER

Winnipeg

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 25, 2011 A11

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