Youth, Identity and the Search for Meaning: A qualitative study of religion and spirituality among adolescents in contemporary Quebec

While changes in the Quebec’s immigration patterns and demographics over the past forty years are well researched, scholars have rarely investigated how young Quebeckers make sense of themselves and the world around them. Previous research on the topic of youth religiosity in Western countries (Campiche, 1997; Smith and Lundquist Denton, 2005; Crawford and Rossiter, 2006; Lefebvre, 2006; Roehlkepartain et al, 2008; Valk et al, 2009; Kimball et al, 2010) has outlined adolescents’ interest in questions of meaning and in learning about religions from an unbiased perspective. We addresses this issue by adding to the data we have on adolescents meaning-making strategies within a sociological perspective, and seeks to integrate the voice of adolescents to discussions on educational questions that are directly relevant to their development and wellbeing. This dissertation reports on a detailed investigation of seventeen Québécois teenagers’ lives and worldviews, using qualitative methods. Through an individual, semi-directed interview, 17 Montreal adolescents (nine girls and eight boys) between the ages of 14 and 19 (m = 16.05) were asked about their views on religion, spirituality, adolescence, the place of religion in society, as well as ethnic and religious diversity in their school, and their appreciation of the recently implemented Ethics and Religious Culture Program. We found that the participants to this study had a non-religious perspective, evidenced by a distrust of religious institutions and an absence of religious beliefs and practices, coupled with an interest for learning about religious culture and ethical questions, evidenced by a generally positive evaluation of the Ethics and Religious Culture Program

Un point de vue différent sur la place de la religion à l'école : étude exploratoire sur les perceptions religieuses et spirituelles d'adolescent-es de la fin secondaire du centre de Montréal

The following is an exploratory study aimed at bringing back the focus of this debate on those who are primarily concerned with the issue of if, and how, religion should be taught in school: the students. Using an anonymous questionnaire, where ample space for personal comments was given, the author tried to discover what participants, mostly from age 15 to 17, thought of the religions they were exposed to both at home and at school. The author also wanted to know if those youths found in religion, an adequate expression of their spirituality and if exposure to different religions made them more tolerant to difference. This thesis complements, by its emphasis on the participants' experience, the corpus of literature available on the topic of religion in schools in the province of Québec, which mostly focuses on the legal or ideological aspects of this issue. Findings suggest that participants are much more concerned about issues such as the meaning of life, peace, social justice, and having harmonious relationships with others than what the media and popular belief portray. It also seems that they are curious about the ways in which different people believe and live their spirituality in their daily existence

Nutritional quality of food as represented by the FSAm-NPS nutrient profiling system underlying the Nutri-Score label and cancer risk in Europe : Results from the EPIC prospective cohort study

Background Helping consumers make healthier food choices is a key issue for the prevention of cancer and other diseases. In many countries, political authorities are considering the implementation of a simplified labelling system to reflect the nutritional quality of food products. The Nutri-Score, a five-colour nutrition label, is derived from the Nutrient Profiling System of the British Food Standards Agency (modified version) (FSAm-NPS). How the consumption of foods with high/low FSAm-NPS relates to cancer risk has been studied in national/regional cohorts but has not been characterized in diverse European populations. Methods and findings This prospective analysis included 471,495 adults from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC, 1992-2014, median follow-up: 15.3 y), among whom there were 49,794 incident cancer cases (main locations: breast, n = 12,063; prostate, n = 6,745; colon-rectum, n = 5,806). Usual food intakes were assessed with standardized country-specific diet assessment methods. The FSAm-NPS was calculated for each food/beverage using their 100-g content in energy, sugar, saturated fatty acid, sodium, fibres, proteins, and fruits/vegetables/legumes/nuts. The FSAm-NPS scores of all food items usually consumed by a participant were averaged to obtain the individual FSAm-NPS Dietary Index (DI) scores. Multi-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were computed. A higher FSAm-NPS DI score, reflecting a lower nutritional quality of the food consumed, was associated with a higher risk of total cancer (HRQ5 versus (Q1) = 1.07; 95% CI 1.03-1.10, P-trend <0.001). Absolute cancer rates in those with high and low (quintiles 5 and 1) FSAm-NPS DI scores were 81.4 and 69.5 cases/10,000 person-years, respectively. Higher FSAm-NPS DI scores were specifically associated with higher risks of cancers of the colon-rectum, upper aerodigestive tract and stomach, lung for men, and liver and postmenopausal breast for women (all P <0.05). The main study limitation is that it was based on an observational cohort using self-reported dietary data obtained through a single baseline food frequency questionnaire; thus, exposure misclassification and residual confounding cannot be ruled out. Conclusions In this large multinational European cohort, the consumption of food products with a higher FSAm-NPS score (lower nutritional quality) was associated with a higher risk of cancer. This supports the relevance of the FSAm-NPS as underlying nutrient profiling system for front-of-pack nutrition labels, as well as for other public health nutritional measures.Peer reviewe

Association between nutritional profiles of foods underlying Nutri-Score front-of-pack labels and mortality: EPIC cohort study in 10 European countries.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if the Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system (FSAm-NPS), which grades the nutritional quality of food products and is used to derive the Nutri-Score front-of-packet label to guide consumers towards healthier food choices, is associated with mortality. DESIGN: Population based cohort study. SETTING: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort from 23 centres in 10 European countries. PARTICIPANTS: 521 324 adults; at recruitment, country specific and validated dietary questionnaires were used to assess their usual dietary intakes. A FSAm-NPS score was calculated for each food item per 100 g content of energy, sugars, saturated fatty acids, sodium, fibre, and protein, and of fruit, vegetables, legumes, and nuts. The FSAm-NPS dietary index was calculated for each participant as an energy weighted mean of the FSAm-NPS score of all foods consumed. The higher the score the lower the overall nutritional quality of the diet. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Associations between the FSAm-NPS dietary index score and mortality, assessed using multivariable adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS: After exclusions, 501 594 adults (median follow-up 17.2 years, 8 162 730 person years) were included in the analyses. Those with a higher FSAm-NPS dietary index score (highest versus lowest fifth) showed an increased risk of all cause mortality (n=53 112 events from non-external causes; hazard ratio 1.07, 95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.10, P<0.001 for trend) and mortality from cancer (1.08, 1.03 to 1.13, P<0.001 for trend) and diseases of the circulatory (1.04, 0.98 to 1.11, P=0.06 for trend), respiratory (1.39, 1.22 to 1.59, P<0.001), and digestive (1.22, 1.02 to 1.45, P=0.03 for trend) systems. The age standardised absolute rates for all cause mortality per 10 000 persons over 10 years were 760 (men=1237; women=563) for those in the highest fifth of the FSAm-NPS dietary index score and 661 (men=1008; women=518) for those in the lowest fifth. CONCLUSIONS: In this large multinational European cohort, consuming foods with a higher FSAm-NPS score (lower nutritional quality) was associated with a higher mortality for all causes and for cancer and diseases of the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems, supporting the relevance of FSAm-NPS to characterise healthier food choices in the context of public health policies (eg, the Nutri-Score) for European populations. This is important considering ongoing discussions about the potential implementation of a unique nutrition labelling system at the European Union level

Manger, boire, bouger : quelle importance pour la prévention des cancers ?

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