Publications by authors named "Theresa Poon"

Objective: Online and lab-based experiments examining the impact of alcohol labels typically test a one-time exposure to labels and assess short-term, non-behavioural outcomes. These studies do not simulate a real-world label dose or assess actual alcohol use. This pilot aimed to develop a new protocol for testing alcohol labels that better reflects real-world exposure by presenting labels on consumers' own alcohol products over time and assessing effects on several outcomes, including alcohol use.

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Background: Population prevalence and patterns of cannabis use for mental health (CUMH) are underexplored. This is important to understand in the Canadian territories which has the highest prevalence of cannabis use in Canada. This study aimed to examine socio-demographic factors associated with CUMH in the territories and associations between CUMH and cannabis use outcomes.

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This study investigated whether noticing cannabis education campaigns was associated with increased cannabis risk perceptions in Canada's three territories following non-medical cannabis legalization. Data were from the Cannabis Policy Study in the Territories, including 2452 participants, age ≥16 years residing in Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Poisson regression with robust standard errors were used to estimate associations between noticing cannabis education campaigns and moderate to very high risk perceptions of daily cannabis smoking, vaping, edible use and exposure to second-hand cannabis smoke, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and cannabis-use frequency.

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Objective: The Cannabis Policy Study in the Territories (CPST) is an annual repeat cross-sectional study aiming to evaluate the impacts of cannabis legalization in the Canadian territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut), where there is a paucity of data on cannabis use. This current study's objective was to describe the 2022 CPST, including methods, population prevalence estimates of cannabis use, and legal cannabis sources and perceptions in the territories.

Methods: The 2022 CPST includes 2462 respondents (aged 16 +) residing in the territories who either use or do not use cannabis.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study tested the effectiveness of health warning labels (HWL) about the alcohol-cancer link on consumer perceptions and intentions regarding ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages, comparing these effects with nutrient content claims (NCC) and nutritional declarations (ND).
  • Over 5,000 Canadian alcohol consumers participated, and findings showed that all label conditions with HWL led to lower perceived healthiness, decreased product appeal, and reduced intentions to buy or consume the product.
  • The HWL alone influenced participants to intend to buy fewer cans in the following week, with the study also noting minimal differences in label effects based on gender and age.
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Objectives: To test the efficacy of calorie labelling for alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages on restaurant menus on noticing calorie information, calorie knowledge, and perceived and actual influence on hypothetical beverage orders.

Methods: Participants included upper-level university students of legal drinking age residing in Ontario, Canada (n = 283). Using a between-groups experiment, participants were randomized to view one of two menus: (1) No Calorie Information (control), and (2) Calorie Information adjacent to each beverage.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examined the effects of different types of preloads—isocaloric (same calories), isosweet (same sweetness), and neither—on subsequent food intake during an unlimited meal.
  • It found that low-/no-calorie sweeteners (LNCS) led to lower calorie intake at the ad libitum meal compared to unsweetened preloads, but this effect wasn't consistent across all analyses.
  • Overall, LNCS-sweetened and unsweetened preloads showed similar results, indicating that they could be effective alternatives to caloric sweeteners without significantly affecting total energy intake.
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Background: Oats are a whole grain cereal with potentially favorable effects on the postprandial glycemic response; however, the effects of oat processing on these glycemic benefits are not well understood.

Objectives: The study objective was to determine the effects of differently processed oats on the postprandial blood glucose and insulin responses relative to refined grains.

Methods: Eleven electronic databases were systematically searched to identify studies published up to and including May 2019.

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There is considerable interest in the role of probiotics in immune function. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the effects of the consumption of a fermented dairy drink containing subsp. CNCM I-1518 (the previous taxonomic nomenclature was CNCM I-1518, prior to the nomenclature change in April 2020) and the standard yogurt cultures (hereinafter referred to collectively as "FDD") on common infectious diseases (CIDs) in generally healthy children and adults.

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Factors associated with sweetness preference are multi-faceted and incredibly complex. A scoping review was undertaken to identify determinants of sweetness preference in humans. Using an online search tool, ProQuest ™, a total of 99 publications were identified and subsequently grouped into the following categories of determinants: Age, dietary factors, reproductive hormonal factors, body weight status, heritable, weight loss, sound, personality, ethnicity and lifestyle, previous exposure, disease, and 'other' determinants.

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Nutrient profile (NP) models, tools used to rate or evaluate the nutritional quality of foods, are increasingly used by government bodies worldwide to underpin nutrition-related policies. An up-to-date and accessible list of existing NP models is currently unavailable to support their adoption or adaptation in different jurisdictions. This study used a systematic approach to develop a global resource that summarizes key characteristics of NP models with applications in government-led nutrition policies.

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Background: Whole grains are often referred to collectively, despite differences in their composition, physical structure, processing, and potential health benefits.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the postprandial blood glucose response of whole-grain with refined wheat, rice, or rye, while controlling for the food delivery matrix and the processing of the grain (e.g.

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Nutrient profiling (NP) is a method for evaluating the healthfulness of foods. Although many NP models exist, most have not been validated. This study aimed to examine the content and construct/convergent validity of five models from different regions: Australia/New Zealand (FSANZ), France (Nutri-Score), Canada (HCST), Europe (EURO) and Americas (PAHO).

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The Canadian government recently committed to introduce legislation to restrict the commercial marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children. We compared the degree of strictness and agreement between nutrient profile (NP) models relevant to marketing restrictions by applying them in the Canadian context. With the use of data from the University of Toronto 2013 Food Label Information Program ( = 15,342 prepackaged foods), 4 NP models were evaluated: the Food Standards Australia New Zealand-Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion (FSANZ-NPSC), the WHO Regional Office for Europe (EURO) model, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) model, and a modified version of the PAHO model (Modified-PAHO), which did not consider the extent of food processing because the application of this characteristic was prone to ambiguity.

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A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials was undertaken to determine the effects of almond consumption on blood lipid levels, namely total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), TAG and the ratios of TC:HDL-C and LDL-C:HDL-C. Following a comprehensive search of the scientific literature, a total of eighteen relevant publications and twenty-seven almond-control datasets were identified. Across the studies, the mean differences in the effect for each blood lipid parameter (i.

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Purpose: To determine if plant stanols and plant sterols differ with respect to their low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-CH) lowering efficacies across a continuous dose range.

Methods: Dose-response relationships were evaluated separately for plant stanols and plant sterols and reductions in LDL-CH, using a first-order elimination function.

Results: Altogether, 113 publications and 1 unpublished study report (representing 182 strata) complied with the pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included in the assessment.

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The objectives of this review were to determine whether the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and/or docosahexaenoic acid dose-dependently reduce fasting serum triglycerides (TG) and, if so, to create a mathematical model that may be used to predict potential percent reductions in fasting serum TG levels at the recommended intakes of 200-500 mg/day. The assessment included 15 randomized controlled trials that met pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Across these 15 studies, the dose-response was modeled using a first-order elimination curve.

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