A B.C. food researcher has helped launch an online diet calculator that can gauge health risks associated with one’s eating habits.
Mahsa Jessri, an assistant professor in the University of British Columbia's faculty of land and food systems, designed the calculator as a quick tool to assess and improve eating habits.
“In under 15 minutes, [the Dietary Pattern Calculator] can capture how healthy your diet is overall, compare it to other Canadians of the same age and sex, and provide tips on how to change your eating habits for the better,” said Jessri, who is also a Canada research chair in nutritional epidemiology for population health.
The calculator provides a score of 100, after asking about daily, weekly and monthly eating habits for: fruits, vegetables, dark green vegetables, legumes and soy, whole grains, fast food, sugary drinks and salty snacks. The calculator also gauges one’s cooking patterns as well.
The score reflects a score based on the average for a person’s age and sex.
Jesri’s research team used the food groups as they are the strongest predictors of diet quality and non-communicable disease risk.
“This assessment could become part of everyone’s electronic medical records and be used to identify patients who could benefit from a referral to a dietitian,” added Jesri, via a university statement.
Jesri notes, based on a 2022 report from Diabetes Canada, diabetes risks increase by not eating enough fruits and vegetables, for example.
The calculator was developed based on a North American diet using Canadian food surveys and nutritional data, so it won’t work for everyone — especially those adhering to special diets or with certain diseases, noted Jesri, via the statement.
