FOOD-INTAKE OF IMMIGRANTS AND NON-IMMIGRANTS IN ONTARIO - FOOD GROUP COMPARISON WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 1992 CANADA FOOD GUIDE TO HEALTHY EATING

This study investigated the relationship between place of birth and th e likelihood of meeting the recommendations of the 1992 Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating (CFG) using data from the 1990 Ontario Health Survey. Respondents aged 18 years and over (n=36,616) were categorized as non-immigrants (born in Canada) or immigrants (born outside of Can ada). Food intake was measured using a self-administered food-frequenc y questionnaire. Respondents were classified as either meeting or not meeting at least 75% of the CFG recommendations, that is, having consu med or not consumed at least 75% of the minimum recommended number of servings of each CFG food group. Descriptive results indicated that on ly one-fifth of the respondents were meeting 75% of all four recommend ations. The proportions of respondents meeting the recommendations for the individual food groups varied from 41.6% to 71.2%. Multiple logis tic regression analyses showed that certain Asian groups were particul arly less likely than Canadian-born individuals to meet the recommenda tions for Milk products, and that Europeans and Asians were in general more likely to meet the recommendations for Grain products. Thus, foo d choices of Ontarians tend to vary by place of birth. Some of the hea lthy eating habits of some immigrant groups should be reinforced.