In "no way, really?" news ...

A study in this month's "Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition" (Vol. 54, Issue 9) has shown a correlation between eating away from the home, and anthropometric changes (e.g. obesity, increase in waist circumference).

The authors reviewed 15 prospective studies, and following a review of the quality of the data contained within, selected seven of them for analysis. What they found probably shouldn't surprise anybody: if you eat away from home "frequently", you're probably going to weigh more than somebody who eats at home less "frequently". The authors of the review further looked at different types of food sources away from the house, and (surprise again!) found that fast-food outlets had a higher correlation with these negative anthropometric implications than traditional restaurants. It's noted in the article that "other out-of-home foods" are lacking the research to declare correlation between consumption and negative body changes, and suggests more research be undertaken.

While nobody should be surprised by the results of this literature review, it's likely that the restaurant industry will be quick to point out that other factors lead to a healthy lifestyle besides just your choice of eating location, including exercise, lifestyle, genetics, etc. Though the article looked at long-term prospective studies, it did not indicate any other potential sources of anthropometric change besides where the meals were consumed.

Another consideration is that the articles reviewed by the authors range in date published between 1998 and 2011. There have been many changes in the types of food being served "away from the home" over the past 15 years, both for marketing reasons (I'm looking at you fast-food salads) and for legislative reasons (see: BC's Public Health Impediments Regulation dealing with trans fats). Presumably, a prospective study undertaken now and published in 10 years time would show similar outcomes, but perhaps not quite to the same extent.

Policy makers and food-industry regulators should take heed of this research. Though some legislation has been put in place that makes "out-of-home food" more healthy (see above in re trans-fat laws), there is still work to be done to ensure that when people are unable to eat at home for whatever reason, they are not putting themselves at risk of significant health issues.

Source: Dossa, R. A., Nago, E. S., Lachat, C. K., & Kolsteren, P. W. (2014). Association of Out-of-Home Eating with Anthropometric Changes: A Systematic Review of Prospective Studies. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 54(9), 1103-1116.

The noisy, compostable Sun Chips bags should be considered a feature, not a flaw. Irritating people is very underrated.

Personal emails exempt from FOI

The Ontario Super Court of Justice ruled recently that personal emails stored on government services are not subject to FOI requests. This has pretty important implications for any employee who works in a government organization and uses their government email for personal use. Employees are always told that whatever they write in an email from that account (or receive to that account) is subject to FOI, and so they should be careful; this ruling seems to state otherwise.

It should be noted, however, that many organizations (including those that are FOI-able) have rules around employee use of technology that may preclude email use for personal business, as it constitutes using a "resource" for personal gain.

Full link to the full story below.

Globe & Mail

Morning sunrise

That's a bit of a redundant statement I guess, since the sun always rises in the morning. Anyway, as Emily Dickinson said, the sunrise is day's great progenitor. So a great sunrise should beget a great day!
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device.

CBC News - Technology & Science - Tim Hortons to accept debit cards

CBC News - Technology & Science - Tim Hortons to accept debit cards

This both came as a surprise to me (that BC was part of the "test market") and not (as somebody who's driven through a Maritimes Tim Hortons and had to park, get cash, and come inside to pay). I tend to take for granted that I can pay for everything everywhere with my debit card (even a $2 coffee), and I guess that's not always the case. I believe the delays to which Tim Hortons refers are not those related to the use of the debit cards, but those that occur when the debit machines go down and people are left with no way to pay for the items that are already being made.