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Montreal, July 10th, 2009 – The Quebec Coalition on Weight-Related Problems (Weight Coalition) considers that the frame of reference "Miser sur une saine alimentation : une question de qualité" appears to be an encouraging initiative to remove junk food from health care and social services institutions. However, the Coalition would like the Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Yves Bolduc, to allocate the necessary resources to the institutions in order to allow them to guide their food services through this major transition.

"The dietary policy experience in schools should inspire us now for health care and social services institutions. It is not enough to simply remove french fries from the menus, they should also be replaced with healthy and attractive food choices. Health care institutions are well positioned to support food service franchises in reviewing their dietary offering, as long as they are granted the necessary amounts to achieve this", declares Suzie Pellerin, Director of Weight Coalition.

The Director reminds us of the example of implementing such a policy in schools, where the success factors were clearly defined: guidance for change management, access to professional resources related to nutrition, sufficient budget to modify the contracts with food service suppliers, availability of dietary alternatives, etc.

The impact of this new policy may be very significant, the health care network being responsible for 89.1 million meals served each year and employing over 10% of the Quebec active population. The mission of health care institutions is in fact to promote healthy lifestyles, and they should therefore set an example.

A policy for users… as well as visitors
Moreover, Weight Coalition is pleased that the new policy targets both food and beverage services provided to staff and visitors, and meal and snack services offered to users and residents. "We must be consistent; we cannot advocate healthy lifestyles on one hand and offer soft drinks and junk food on the other", adds Ms. Pellerin.

Let us remember that in July 2008, the Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Yves Bolduc, had committed to elaborating a "strong" dietary policy to eliminate junk food from all Quebec health care institutions. The frame of reference "Miser sur une saine alimentation : une question de qualité" states that the institutions must adopt a dietary policy before March 2010 and apply all recommendations included in the frame of reference before March 2012.

About the Quebec Coalition on Weight-Related Problems
Created in 2006 and sponsored by the Association pour la santé publique du Québec since 2008, the Quebec Coalition on Weight-Related Problems is working toward the adoption of specific public policies with regard to weight related issues. It acts within three strategic areas (agri-food industry, sociocultural and built environment) to foster the development of environments that help in making healthy choices and preventing weight related issues. For more details: www.cqpp.qc.ca.

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Source: Amélie Desrosiers
Communications Officer, Quebec Coalition on Weight-Related Problems
Phone: 514 598-8058, extension 233
Cell.: 514 475-7431
adesrosiers@cqpp.qc.ca