L’ICS aura un kiosque et fera une présentation au congrès national des Diététistes du Canada à Toronto en Ontario, du 14 au 16 juin 2012

L’Institut canadien du sucre (ICS) aura un kiosque au congrès national des Diététistes du Canada à Toronto en Ontario, du 14 au 16 juin 2012.

À ce congrès, Katrina Anciado, une ancienne stagiaire de l’ICS qui a complété le programme de maîtrise appliqué en nutrition à l’Université de Guelph, fera une présentation par affiches. Elle parlera de la recherche sur laquelle elle a travaillée pendant son stage à l’ICS, soit les perceptions des professionnels de la santé en ce qui concerne les tendances actuelles au niveau de la consommation de sucre. Voir le résumé ci-dessous.

Perceptions des professionnels de la santé en ce qui concerne les tendances au niveau de la consommation du sucre
Katrina Anciado, MAN, RD¹, Jodi Bernstein² et Tristin Brisbois, PhD²

¹1université du Guelph, Guelph, Ontario; ²Institut canadien du sucre, Toronto, Ontario.

There are many misconceptions surrounding sugars consumption. Added sugars consumption has not increased over recent decades in countries such as Canada, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The overall purpose of this project was to determine health professionals' perceptions of sugars consumption trends.

Objectives: To gather users' feedback of Canadian Sugar Institute (CSI) resources and to assess dietitians' knowledge of trends in sugars consumption in Canada.

Methods: From 2003-2011, conference attendees voluntarily completed CSI surveys, which included questions on demographics, preferences for CSI resources, and sugar-related knowledge.

Results: Dietitians represented 60% of survey participants. Dietitians and the majority (80%) of nurses and physicians claimed to often discuss nutrition with their clients. Most respondents (76%) found CSI's resources useful. Topics of interest for resources included: glycemic index, type 2 diabetes, nutrition labelling, dietary guidelines and dental health. Sugar-knowledge questions revealed that the majority of dietitians (77%) were not aware that sugars and syrup consumption has decreased in Canada. Some dietitians (39%) correctly identified that 10-15% of Canadians' total energy intake is attributed to total added sugars. Less than half of dietitians were aware that HFCS is used to sweeten most soft drinks sold in Canada. Most dietitians (70%) were not aware that Canadian consumption of soft drinks is half that of Americans.

Implications and Conclusions: There appears to be a need for an effective transfer of evidence-based knowledge to dietitians and other health professionals regarding sugars and trends in consumption. CSI should continue to develop resources for these professionals to use as tools in discussions with their clients.