Canada’s Food Guide emphasizes whole grains as the primary choice of grain products, but does higher whole-grain consumption always improve diet quality? This study analyzed nationally representative data from the Canadian Community Health Survey–Nutrition 2015 to explore the relationship between grain consumption, nutrient intake, diet quality, and obesity rates in Canadians.
Key Points:
- High whole-grain consumption is associated with better diet quality for both children and adults. However, beyond a certain level of intake, no additional improvement in diet quality was observed.
- Adults with balanced intakes of whole and non-whole grains had significantly lower rates of obesity and overweight.
- Logistic regression analysis confirmed that adults with balanced grain consumption had a reduced likelihood of being obese or overweight.
- For children and adolescents, no significant differences were found in obesity or overweight rates based on whole-grain consumption patterns.
These findings suggest that a balanced intake of whole and non-whole grains contributes to improved diet quality and reduced obesity risk in adults, supporting the importance of dietary balance in grain consumption.
