Elaine M. Power (2005). The determinants of healthy eating among
low-income Canadians. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96(S3), 
S37-S42.


Abstract
This paper draws on four bodies of literature to consider the 
determinants
of healthy eating for low-income Canadians: a) the social determinants 
of
health; b) socioeconomic gradients in diet; c) food security; and d) the
sociology of food. Though there is a paucity of data for Canada, it is
very likely that as in other industrialized countries, there are
socioeconomic gradients in diet, such that those who are better off
consume healthier diets than those less well-to-do. The available 
evidence
suggests that income affects food intake both directly, and indirectly,
through the dispositions that come with occupying a particular location 
in
social space. Thus, there may be both economic and cultural thresholds 
for
some food groups or particular foods in food groups. Understanding these
thresholds is especially important to address the issues facing those 
who
are most vulnerable among those living on low-incomes: the food 
insecure.
The literature reviewed suggests that improved nutrition for low-income
Canadians may be difficult to achieve a) in isolation from other changes
to improve their lives; b) without improvement in the nutrition of the
general population of Canadians; and c) without some combination of the
these two changes. Four major areas of research need were identified: a)
national data on socioeconomic gradients in diet; b) sociological 
research
on the interaction of income and class with other factors affecting food
practices; c) sociological research on Canadian food norms and cultures;
and d) research on the costs of healthy eating.


This article is one of seven articles published in a special supplement 
to
the Canadian Journal of Public Health (Volume 96, Supplement 3,
July/August 2005).  Understanding the Forces That Influence Our Eating 
Habits: What We Know
and Need to Know contains a series of articles commissioned by Health 
Canada that
summarize the current state of knowledge about individual and collective
determinants of healthy eating.

For more information, please consult the Health Canada Web site at 
http://www.healthcanada.ca/nutrition.




*************
Elaine Power, Ph.D.
Health Studies Program
School of Physical and Health Education
Queen's University
Kingston, ON  K7L 3N6
phone: 613.533.6283
fax: 613.533.2009

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