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Objective:To establish health-related reasons behind Canadian food choices, and how variables such as education, income, gender, ethnicity and age may affect food selection.Subjects:Approximately 98 733 Canadians responded to the 12 questions regarding food choices in the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) cycle 2.1, conducted by the Canadian Government in 2003. These included 13 727 adolescents (12–19 years), 19 089 young adults (20–34 years), 31 039 middle-aged adults (35–54 years), 25 338 older adults (55–74 years) and 9580 elderly (75+ years).Results:Approximately 70% of Canadian adolescents in the sample indicated that their food choices were independent of health concerns. Body weight management was a major concern for food selection by adolescents and adults, while the elderly stated heart disease as their main concern. Among all participants, females, and individuals with high levels of education and income reported the highest response to choosing or avoiding foods due to health concerns and food content.Conclusions:Our data indicate that several factors significantly affect food choices for health-related reasons in the Canadian population. Among them, age- and gender-related gaps, particularly between adolescents and adults, are profound. This observation may urge authorities to implement effective strategies to educate Canadians, especially adolescents, that selection of appropriate foods may prevent chronic diseases.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2008) 62, 1255–1262; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602863; published online 1 August 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a large cohort of hyperlipidemic patients, who attended the Lipid Research Clinic in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and in Vancouver, Canada, 915 consecutive patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) of Dutch descent, were selected. This group of FH patients was screened for the presence of a cytosine to thymidine nucleotide substitution in exon 14 of the LDL-receptor gene, in order to determine the frequency of this mutation in patients of Dutch descent and to investigate the relationship between the mutation and the level of lipoprotein(a). The mutation was detected in seven individuals. All patients with this mutation shared the same haplotype, which is suggestive of an ancient mutation. The index patients and a large kindred with this mutation were further analyzed at the biochemical and clinical level. Except for total and LDL-cholesterol, there was no statistically significant difference in biochemical parameters between family members with and without FH. In contrast to previous reports, there was no difference in plasma levels of lipoprotein(a) between patients with the mutation in exon 14 and unaffected individuals.