Table 3. Adjusted Canadian food guide food group intake for children and adults stratified by whole grain food intake.
| No Whole Grain Food Intake (No-WG)a | Low Whole Grain Food Intake (Low-WG) a | Mid-Whole Grain Food Intake (Mid-WG) a | High-Whole Grain Food Intake (High-WG) a | p value for linear trendb | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Groups by Canada Food Guide Tiersc | Children, n = 3,305 | Adults, n = 7,578 | Children, n = 1,077 | Adults, n = 2,044 | Children, n = 1,085 | Adults, n = 2,156 | Children, n = 1,101 | Adults, n = 2,141 | Children | Adults |
| Whole Grains Tier 1–3, g/d | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 17 ± 2 | 24 ± 3 | 51 ± 1 | 66 ± 3 | 154 ± 6 | 213 ± 14 | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Whole Grains Tier 4, g/d | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 3 ± 1 | 2 ± 0 | 4 ± 1 | 3 ± 1 | 8 ± 1 | 3 ± 1 | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Fruit tiers 1–3, g/d | 271 ± 12 | 205 ± 8 | 273 ± 18 | 224 ± 11 | 302 ± 26 | 240 ± 12 | 294 ± 18 | 240 ± 11 | 0.07 | 0.0001 |
| Fruit tier 4, g/d | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Vegetables tiers 1–3, g/d | 149 ± 6 | 219 ± 7 | 148 ± 12 | 219 ± 10 | 141 ± 10 | 222 ± 9 | 145 ± 7 | 227 ± 20 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| Vegetables tier 4, g/d | 3 ± 0 | 5 ± 1 | 2 ± 1 | 4 ± 1 | 2 ± 1 | 5 ± 2 | 4 ± 2 | 2 ± 1 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| Refined grains tiers 1–3, g/d | 206 ± 7 | 187 ± 9 | 185 ± 9 | 155 ± 8 | 159 ± 8 | 129 ± 14 | 140 ± 8 | 116 ± 6 | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Refined grains tier 4, g/d | 45 ± 7 | 24 ± 9 | 41 ± 9 | 21 ± 8 | 35 ± 8 | 23 ± 14 | 27 ± 8 | 18 ± 6 | 0.001 | 0.04 |
| Dairy products and alternatives tiers 1–3, g/d | 326 ± 18 | 214 ± 17 | 390 ± 18 | 261 ± 12 | 377 ± 17 | 250 ± 13 | 377 ± 17 | 242 ± 15 | 0.07 | 0.004 |
| Dairy products and alternatives tier 4, g/d | 5 ± 1 | 7 ± 1 | 5 ± 1 | 5 ± 1 | 6 ± 2 | 5 ± 1 | 3 ± 1 | 5 ± 2 | 0.2 | 0.009 |
| Meat and poultry tiers 1–3, g/d | 62 ± 4 | 84 ± 5 | 64 ± 7 | 84 ± 5 | 52 ± 6 | 77 ± 5 | 56 ± 6 | 66 ± 5 | 0.08 | 0.0005 |
| Meat and poultry tier 4, g/d | 9 ± 2 | 12 ± 2 | 7 ± 2 | 7 ± 2 | 8 ± 3 | 5 ± 4 | 6 ± 3 | 6 ± 2 | 0.1 | 0.0006 |
| Processed meats tiers 1–3, g/d | 12 ± 2 | 11 ± 1 | 11 ± 2 | 11 ± 2 | 12 ± 2 | 12 ± 1 | 12 ± 3 | 13 ± 3 | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Processed meats tier 4, g/d | 10 ± 1 | 9 ± 1 | 12 ± 2 | 6 ± 2 | 10 ± 2 | 7 ± 3 | 6 ± 1 | 4 ± 1 | 0.07 | 0.0003 |
| Fish and shellfish tiers 1–3, g/d | 7 ± 1 | 18 ± 5 | 7 ± 2 | 22 ± 7 | 6 ± 1 | 20 ± 5 | 9 ± 2 | 19 ± 5 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Fish and shellfish tier 4, g/d | 1 ± 0 | 4 ± 1 | 1 ± 1 | 3 ± 1 | 0 ± 0 | 4 ± 1 | 2 ± 1 | 2 ± 2 | 0.5 | 0.09 |
| Legumes, nuts and seeds tiers 1–3, g/d | 13 ± 2 | 23 ± 3 | 11 ± 2 | 31 ± 5 | 19 ± 3 | 28 ± 3 | 17 ± 3 | 37 ± 4 | 0.08 | <0.0001 |
| Legumes, nuts and seeds tier 4, g/d | 1 ± 0 | 1 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 3 ± 1 | 1 ± 1 | 0 ± 1 | 1 ± 0 | 2 ± 1 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Eggs tiers 1–3, g/d | 14 ± 1 | 21 ± 2 | 15 ± 2 | 21 ± 2 | 15 ± 2 | 25 ± 2 | 13 ± 2 | 22 ± 2 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Eggs tier 4, g/d | 1 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 1 | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 0 ± 0 | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| No CFG—Discretionary foods, g/d | 191 ± 18 | 315 ± 14 | 164 ± 19 | 251 ± 16 | 175 ± 18 | 228 ± 17 | 152 ± 14 | 163 ± 17 | 0.07 | <0.0001 |
| No CFG—Other foods and recipes, g/d | 767 ± 37 | 1316 ± 54 | 809 ± 46 | 1410 ± 45 | 803 ± 41 | 1434 ± 42 | 865 ± 57 | 1435 ± 46 | 0.03 | 0.09 |
| No CFG—Foods not classified, g/d | 562 ± 16 | 713 ± 23 | 582 ± 23 | 729 ± 30 | 587 ± 21 | 729 ± 41 | 551 ± 20 | 723 ± 26 | 0.9 | 0.6 |
| Total Tier 1–3 foods, g/d | 1061 ± 20 | 979 ± 17 | 1121 ± 22 | 1052 ± 20 | 1132 ± 37 | 1068 ± 22 | 1192 ± 28 | 1195 ± 20 | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Total Tier 4 foods, g/d | 75 ± 7 | 62 ± 3 | 71 ± 6 | 52 ± 9 | 66 ± 6 | 52 ± 5 | 57 ± 6 | 42 ± 4 | 0.01 | <0.0001 |
| Total non-CFG foods, g/d | 1520 ± 31 | 2345 ± 61 | 1554 ± 39 | 2391 ± 46 | 1566 ± 41 | 2391 ± 53 | 1568 ± 59 | 2321 ± 67 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
CFG, Canada Food Guide; WG, whole grains. Data are based on the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2015 and are presented as least squares mean ± standard error. The units for all results are in grams. Results were adjusted for energy, gender, age, BMI category, income, and supplement use.
aCCHS 2015 respondents were stratified according to whole grain intake: those in the “no whole grain intake” (No-WG) group reported consuming no whole grain foods on a single 24-hour dietary recall. The remaining participants that consumed whole grains were divided according to age-specific tertiles into low- middle- and high-whole grain foods intake (low-WG, mid-WG, high-WG).
bStatistical significance was determined based on linear trends across whole grain intake groups for children and adults (separately) and a p≤0.002, after applying a Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons (0.05/24 food groups = 0.00208), was considered statistically significant.
cThe four tiers indicate whether a food item is aligned (tiers 1 & 2), partially aligned (tier 3) or not aligned (tier 4) with the 2007 Canadian Food Guide.