Dramatic changes in the cost of living do not affect Canadians equally. Government monitoring of income-related food insecurity in Canada for two decades has pointed to those who experience greatest financial hardship. Food insecurity is an urgent multiple challenge for nutrition, health systems, and social policy, linked to adverse health outcomes including dietary compromise, chronic mental and physical health conditions, and excess mortality and health care costs. Socioeconomic disparities in diet quality may be explained by the higher cost of higher quality diets, the differential pricing of higher and lower quality foods, as well as the budget available to and allocated to diets by eaters. This plenary will offer a cutting-edge précis of evidence on food insecurity, diet costs, and implications for healthy eating. Through a dynamic discussion, it will examine the role for nutritional sciences in Canada in responding to the food affordability crisis. Learning objectives After this session, participants will be able to: -Describe who is at greatest risk for income-related food insecurity in Canada -Describe methods and challenges associated with measuring the costs of diets in research settings -Explain factors contributing to higher cost of higher quality diets -Identify promising interventions including policies to reduce food insecurity and address disproportionate financial burden in population diet costs -Discern societal tensions in addressing socioeconomic disparities in diet
Dr. Mah is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Promoting Healthy Populations in the School of Health Administration at Dalhousie University. She is internationally known for her scientific work in nutrition and food insecurity policy, with a particular interest in the consumer food environment and its role in social equity, population diet, and food affordability. Dr. Mah was an appointee to Health Canada’s Nutrition Science Advisory Committee (2020-2023) and the inaugural Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council (2020-2022). Since 2024, she has served on the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Council of Canadian Academies. In 2022, Dr. Mah was the recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal from Nova Scotia.