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CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
‘Nutrient deserts' and obesity risk: What a new MIT study could reveal about Canadian cities
A first-of-its-kind global study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found that certain types of food available on restaurant menus may be tied to local obesity rates – raising questions about how the same patterns might apply to urban centres across Canada. The study, published in Scientific Reports, used artificial intelligence to analyze nearly 30,000 restaurants and millions of food items across three cities: Boston, Dubai and London. Researchers then linked those nutritional profiles to the socio-economic and health data of each area. The results? Neighbourhoods with higher obesity rates tended to be 'nutrient deserts,' saturated with calorie-dense and ultra-processed menu offerings. In contrast, lower-obesity neighbourhoods had greater access to nutrient-rich foods. Sadaf Mollaei, assistant professor at the University of Guelph and the Arrell Chair in the Business of Food, told Thursday the findings are likely reflective of trends in Canada too. 'There have been previous studies using other methodology that have links of the food environment with health outcomes or the socio-economic characteristics of the people,' Mollaei said. 'If this study is replicated in the Canadian context, it will probably have the same outcome or show the same results to some extent,' she added. What the study found The study's authors were careful to suggest that their findings were 'observational in nature.' In a email to study co-author Guido Camps said, 'The presence of more energy-dense, lower-cost menu items in higher-obesity areas could potentially reinforce or exacerbate existing dietary patterns.' Using machine learning and natural language processing, researchers extracted nutritional data from publicly available menus. In 2023, they assessed each menu for the relative presence of health and unhealthy ingredients through popular food-delivery platforms. Researchers evaluated the food items as rated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) FoodData Central database, an information bank with 375,000 kinds of food products. Boston saw the strongest results from the study's AI-based method. With a high match rate of 71 per cent between restaurant menu items and the USDA food database. They found that areas with more dietary fibre on menus tended to have lower obesity rates. Wealthier neighbourhoods also had better access to high-fibre, healthier foods. In London, the study revealed similar patterns. Low fibre availability in restaurant food correlated with higher obesity rates. Researchers also found a strong link between housing prices – a stand-in for income – and healthier food environments. London had a slightly lower match rate of 56 per cent with the U.S. food database. The lower match was partly due to differences in food terms like 'chips' versus 'French fries.' The analysis in Dubai was less conclusive, with only 42 per cent of the menu items successfully matched to U.S. nutrition data. Researchers couldn't draw strong links between restaurant food and rental prices or nutrition levels. The lack of culturally specific data – like Arabic food items not found in the U.S. database – was a major limitation. However, one district, Al Ttay, stood out for having the lowest fibre content in the analysis, which the researchers flagged as a potential red flag for future obesity risk. How it works Pinpointing where nutrient deserts are could help drive policies to close the health equity gap, Mollaei suggested. To better understand the quality of food being offered in restaurants, researchers used two tools called the Meal Balance Index (MBI) and the Nutrient-Rich Foods Index (NFR). The MBI looks at how much of each key nutrient – like protein, fibre or sodium – is in a meal compared to how many calories it has. It then compares that to daily recommended amounts and assigns a score based on how well the meal meets those targets. A higher meal MBI means the meal is more balanced and nutritious, while a lower score suggests it may be lacking important nutrients or has too much of others. The NFR score looks at the good stuff – like fibre, protein and calcium, as well as the less healthy ones like saturated fat, added sugars and sodium. The higher the NFR score, the healthier the food is considered. By measuring nutrients per 100 calories, it allowed for comparisons across different foods no matter the portion size. Camps said it was surprising to see how difficult and easy it was to assess health from a menu. 'Cheesecake is probably always too high in saturated fats/sugar and an unhealthy option, but caesar salad can be relatively healthy and low calorie but also lathered in dressing with bread and bacon and therefore not especially healthy,' Camps shared in his email. 'If it is difficult for us to judge how healthy your dish is based on the available public data, it's also difficult for the average consumer to assess who may want to make a healthy choice. Calorie and nutritional info may help in this regard, but that is not standard to give in menus throughout all cities,' he added. Affordability a major factor Camps said while they cannot conclude causation between lower menu prices and higher calorie density in cities with greater obesity prevalence, affordability may influence customers food choices and what restaurants choose to offer. 'Lower prices may make high-calorie options more accessible and appealing, especially in areas where budget constraints are more common,' Camps said, adding that further research is needed to explore this economic factor. Mollaei said when affordability and accessibility are at stake, food environments play a crucial role in shaping the choices people make. While menu labelling regulations exist in provinces like Ontario – where restaurants must show calorie counts and flag items high in sugar, sodium or fat – she says these measures alone may not shift consumer habits. 'If it's not affordable or accessible, then even changing the menu items is not going to have a big impact or change consumption patterns.' Mollaei believes studies like the one from MIT, which use AI to analyze restaurant menus in real time, could offer a 'more dynamic' way to assess Canada's food landscape. 'It will give us insight into what's actually available and accessible to people at a very granular level,' she said. 'You don't want to fall into that loop – low-income, low-quality food, no other options – because people will keep going back to what's there,' she added.
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Nordspace to launch first rocket out of St. Lawrence in August
One small step for NordSpace is one giant leap for Newfoundland and Labrador — as the aerospace company plans to launch Canada's first commercial rocket to space from the town of St. Lawrence next month. Nordspace founder and CEO, Rahul Goel, said the launch will be a test of the company's single-engine rocket system — a 16-meter-long rocket created using 3D-printed metal. "The launch this summer will be a single-engine suborbital test flight, which will be about 30 seconds," Goel told CBC's Newfoundland Morning. Nordspace eyed the Newfoundland town of St. Lawrence because of its position in achieving the right orbital inclinations, Goel said. The company plans to build two launch pads, according to the town — one at Deep Cove and another along Lighthouse Road. Ahead of the launch, a road will be built in St. Lawrence, but Goel said most of the equipment will be brought in from the company's main facility in Ontario. "We're literally bringing our rocket, bringing our systems while the roads are being built, and it's quite a sight to see," he said. Goel said St. Lawrence will eventually be home to a spaceport complex. "It's going to eventually consist of about two launch pads and ground infrastructure like radar tracking, rocket and satellite communication systems and all of that," he said. The first test launch is scheduled to take place during the last week of August. While the rockets won't carry humans, they will carry payloads or small satellites into low orbit, between 500 and 1,000 kilometres into space. "We're very excited as individuals, and as a company, to deliver what we consider a national victory for Canada," Goel said.
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Ship noise in Arctic silences narwhals, alters their movements, study says
New research on narwhals in Nunavut's Eclipse Sound suggests the animals may be more sensitive to shipping noise than scientists previously believed, and that they change their behaviour when ships are nearby. The study, published earlier this month in the journal Nature, says narwhal stop echolocating and will vacate an area when exposed to low-pitched ship noise. It also says the marine mammals are sensitive to sounds more than 20 kilometres away. "It seemed to be an understood fact prior to our research that narwhal were only affected in close range, but when you speak to the hunters and the elders, that's just not been the case," said Alex Ootoowak, a researcher from Pond Inlet, Nunavut, and one of the co-authors of the study. He is with the Oceans North acoustic monitoring program. The study backs up hunters' observations around mining projects in the region, such as the now-closed Nanisivik mine, and their belief that narwhals are more sensitive to shipping noise than existing marine shipping noise guidelines recognize, said Ootoowak. "People seem to appreciate that our research is proving what's long been understood and known here," said Ootoowak. The research will be used to assess and mitigate impacts of mine shipping, cruise ships and yachts trying to enter the Northwest Passage, he said. For the last decade, Oceans North partnered with Pond Inlet's Mittimatalik Hunter Trappers Organization (MHTO) and the California-based Scripps Institution of Oceanography to study how narwhal react to ship noise in Eclipse Sound, near Pond Inlet, where they return each summer to feed in deep, plentiful waters. According to the new study, narwhal numbers in Eclipse Sound in summer appear to have declined by about 90 per cent in the last two decades, from an estimated 20,200 animals in 2004 to 2,081 animals in 2021. Ootoowak calls the change over the years "sad." As a teenager, his dad would take him on long trips to hunt and live off the land. The waters were so plentiful that sleep would be an issue. "You're just constantly hunting and watching and enjoying the views of hundreds and hundreds of narwhal pass by," he said. "I want the later generations to see what I saw," he said. The researchers also state that between 2015 to 2019, there was a 384 per cent increase in the number of vessels transiting through the Eclipse Sound — with 80 per cent of those vessels connected to regional mining activity, and the other 20 per cent to tourism. Inuit hunters in the region were the first to notice the changes in narwhal surface behaviour and population numbers as the first shipments of ore went out from Baffinland's Mary River Mine in 2015, said Kristin Westdal, science director at Oceans North and another of the report's co-authors. She said narwhal were spending less time diving, a behaviour usually indicative of feeding, and changing direction of travel when they encounter a ship. The data can help answer the question of how much noise is too much for the animals, she said. "It's interesting and also alarming when you can pinpoint that position at which the animals stop talking or disappear from that habitat," she said. The research will inform the interim management plan for Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area, as well as future protected areas, according to Westdal. She said it will also be used by the Nunavut Impact Review Board when looking at projects like the Mary River Mine. Studying echolocation The researchers used echolocation clicks of narwhals and satellite data to measure the distance of ships from their recorders. They analyzed how narwhal responded to the sound of ships passing through the area. "These echolocation clicks are associated with important functions like foraging, finding food or navigating," said Joshua Jones, a project scientist overseeing the research with Oceans North and the MHTO. Previous studies found impacts within 10 kilometres of ships, and "strong avoidance" among narwhals of areas within one kilometre of passing ships, the study states. The new research suggests narwhals are even more sensitive to sound than other species they've been compared to such as killer whales or dolphins, and show behavioural changes when ships are within 20 kilometres, said Jones. Narwhals are sensitive to noise below 1 kHz, said Jack Ewing, staff research associate at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California in San Diego and another of the report's co-authors. That's a lower pitch than previous research has suggested the animals were senstive to. Narhwals also react to broadband sound pressure levels well below 120 dB, Ewing said.
