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This page lists upcoming and recent news and events related to healthy eating, nutrition and schools. If you would like to change this page or other pages in this wiki by adding additional references and links, you will need to join this wiki (no charge, no spam) To do so, click on the "Join this Wiki" button from the Home Page or contact info@cash-aces.ca (Please add such additional content at the top of the page)
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School Health Webinars Upcoming for 08-09:The Canadian School Health Knoweldge Network offers a wide array of webinars including several related to nutrition, including: Eat Together, Eat Better! : The benefits of eating together as a familyPresenter: Sydney Massey, Registered Dietician, BC Dairy Foundation Date: Thursday, Nov. 20th, 11:00-12:00 PT (Now completed and archived; to access the archived version please contact Dawn Benson at dbenson@cash-aces.ca). Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice: Annapolis Valley Health Promoting Schools Project: What began as a grass roots initiative, the AVHPS program based on its practice-based evidence, has expanded to engage in varying ways most schools in the Annapolis Valley Regional school board. It is also helping inform provincial decision making in Nova Scotia. Presenters: Caroline Whitby, Program Manager, Annapolis Valley Health Promoting Schools Program, Ismay Bligh, Public Health Nutritionist & Primary Care Facilitator Annapolis Valley Health, and Sandi Carmichael, Annapolis Valley Health
Date: Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 11:00-12:00 PT Nutrition Tools for Schools in Action: how nutrition has become a priority for the District and their schools and practical examples from the first year Presenter: Lindsay Fera, RD, Public Health Dietitian, Algoma Public Health, ONDate: Thursday, March 26th, 2009, 11:00-12:00 PTKidz in the Kitchen: An Innovative Approach to Promoting Nutrition in SchoolsWebinarsPresenters: Marison Petersen, Community Schools Coordinator and Ellen Gozali, Youth Engagement Intern, Vancouver School Board Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 11:00-12:00 PT

A regularly updated calendar of webinars is posted at http://www.safehealthyschools.org/webinars/schedule.htm. To register, go to: http://cash-aces.ca/cshkn/cshkn_reg.asp.


Posted Items (More recent postings appear at the top of this list)

Impact of School Nutrition Policy Report from Saskatchewan: this study shares the findings and the experiences of students, parents and school staff in one small school division in Saskatchewan one year after a division-wide school nutrition policy was implemented. To view the report scroll down to the attachments.

The Canadian Best Practices Portal for Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention: the purpose of the Portal is to improve policy and program decision-making by enabling access to the best available evidence on chronic disease prevention and health promotion. This searchable tool enables users to locate evidence based approaches in areas they're intersted in such as schools and nutrition. See the Portal at:
http://cbpp-pcpe.phac-aspc.gc.ca/.

The Public Health Nutritionists of Saskatchewan have produced The Cost of Healthy Eating in Saskatchewan06 as a useful resource for supporting those working in food security.


The Society for Research in Child Development's social policy report brief, The Family Dinner Table: Implications for Children's Health and Wellbeing, summarizes recent research and corresponding policy implications surrounding family eating habits.

a class="external" href="http://www.healthinschools.org/News-Room/News-Alerts/December-2008/Review-of-Studies-on-Media-Exposure.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://www.healthinschools.org/News-Room/News-Alerts/December-2008/Review-of-Studies-on-Media-Exposure.aspx blocked::/News-Room/News-Alerts/November-2008/Increase-in-Rx-Drug-Use.aspx"Review of Studies on Media Exposure Finds Links to Negative Health Outcomes for Children
A comprehensive, yet non-peer reviewed, study released this week from CommonSenseMedia and the National Institutes of Health and finds that 80% of studies examining the relationship between children and adolescent's exposure to media and health outcomes report a negative association between the two. The researchers reviewed over 1800 studies but focused on 173 studies of high-quality released in the past 28 years investigated links between media exposure and childhood obesity, tobacco, drug and alcohol use, low academic achievement, sexual behavior and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity.

Act Now BC has launched an Eat Together, Eat Better campaign with some excellent online resources, including meal planning, recipes, and how to address meal behaviour and manners. Studies have shown that children from families that eat meals together consume more fruits and vegetables and more nutrients such as fibre, calcium, and folate, and are at lower risk of becoming overweight. Adolescents from families that eat together have better school performance, lower risk for substance abuse and better social adjustment Check out the resources at www.eattogether.net.

To assist Member States in DPAS implementation at the country level, WHO produced the document "School Policy Framework: Implementation of the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health" . The overall purpose of this tool is to guide policy-makers at national and sub-national levels in the development and implementation of policies that promote healthy eating and physical activity in the school setting through changes in environment, behaviour and education. See http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/schools/en/index.html. (Dr. Mary McKenna, Chair of the Nutrition and Schools Community of Practice co-authored this paper.)

To examine the relationship between school environments and adolescent development, Child Trends produced the research brief, The School Environment and Adolescent Well-Being: Beyond Academics. Health, safety, social support, academics, and civic engagement are addressed. This brief is designed for school principals, district staff, and others who are responsible for aspects of school functioning.

Health Care Papers - Vol. 9 No. 1 2008 | Obesity Policy (source: http://www.longwoods.com/home.php?cat=250)

Notes from the Editor-in-Chief
Peggy Leatt

Invited Essay
The Prevention Moment: A Post-partisan Approach to Obesity Policy
Neil Seeman

Commentary
Getting from Analysis to Action: Framing Obesity Research, Policy and Practice with a Solution-Oriented Complex Systems Lens
Diane T. Finegood, Özge Karanfil and Carrie L. Matteson

The Danger in Conservative Framing of a Complex, Systems-Level Issue
Alan Shiell

What Are We Waiting For?
Trevor Silverstone

The Role of Public Health Professionals in Obesity Policy
Susan M. Heywood and Renee Deschamps

Building Public Support for Anti-obesity Policy Initiatives
Bruce Silverglade



  • The Parents Jury is an Australia online network of parents, grandparents and guardians, who are interested in improving the food and physical activity environments of children. See www.parentsjury.org.au for more.
  • Family meal proves best defence against child obesity. Child health experts told a Brisbane conference recently that families that ate and talked "as a unit" over dinner had better nutrition levels than those which did not. Click here to read the full article.
  • The (US) National Association of School Nurse's newest online continuing education program, Making the Difference in Caring for Students with Food Allergies, is adapted from a session presented at NASN's 40th Annual Conference. In this multimedia program, Sally Schoessler, RN, SNT, MSEd, Executive Director of the New York Statewide School Health Services Center, identifies the pathophysiology and treatment of anaphylaxis in the school setting and discusses school-based strategies for managing food allergies.

  • The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's new report, Effectiveness of Weight Management Programs in Children and Adolescents, finds behavioral interventions in schools or specialty health care settings can result in small to moderate short-term improvements for weight management. Research to evaluate the treatment of obese children has increased in quantity and quality over the past few years, but more work must be done to improve current practice and policy development.
  • The new Healthy Eating at School Website is one-stop shopping with all of the relevant school nutrition resources on one site presented by the BC Dairy Foundation, ActNow BC and Knowledge Network. See: www.healthyeatingatschool.ca.
  • The Dietitians of BC have created a draft document entitled Tips and Recipes for School Food Services: Meeting the Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools. http://healthyeatingatschool.ca/wp-content/uploads/TipsRecipes_Sep08.pdf This new resource has been created to assist people who prepare food for sale to students in implementing the Guidelines. It includes tips on how to choose healthy recipes, substitutions to make favourite recipes healthier and a selection of recipes that meet the Guidelines. If you would like to provide feedback on its suitability you can complete the questionnaire in the resource.
  • The Dietitians of Canada in its current edition of "Current Issues" overviews school nutrition policies in Canada. See attached PDF versions (Eng/Fre) below.
  • The (US) a class="external" href="http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/uploads/file/toolkits/NEDA-Toolkit-Educators_09-15-08.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/uploads/file/toolkits/NEDA-Toolkit-Educators_09-15-08.pdf http://www.healthinschools.org/News-Room/Grant-Alerts/Education-Literacy-and-Health-Grants.aspx"National Eating Disorders Association Toolkit contains an eating disorders glossary, frequently asked questions, common myths, and treatment locations. With specific regard to schools, information is provided on the impact of eating disorders on cognitive abilities, strategies for assisting students with eating disorders, communication tips, and tips for psychologists and coaches. For Canadian resources on preventing eating disorders/disordered eating, see wiki posting below.
  • Anaphylaxis Canada is pleased to present Managing Anaphylaxis in Secondary Schools, and Managing Anaphylaxis in Elementary Schools, two online information sessions which will take place from 12 noon to 1 pm (EST) on October 15th and October 22nd respectively. These webcasts will address anaphylaxis management strategies in both elementary and secondary schools individually, auto-injector training, as well as tips and strategies for creating an allergy safe school environment. Each webcast is being offered free of charge across the country to aid school staff in their anaphylaxis training programs as well as for anyone with an interest in anaphylaxis, such as patients, parents of allergic children, educators, child care workers, nurses, public health and other caregivers. For more information see: http://www.anaphylaxis.ca/content/programs/learning_centre.asp.
  • Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs: A Position Statement from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (May 2008): see it at: http://iweb.aahperd.org/naspe/pdf_files/CSPAP_Online.pdf.
  • From Action for Healthy Kids (US): Criteria for Evaluating School-Based Approaches to Increasing Good Nutrition and Physical Activity. See it at: http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/pdf/criteria_report.pdf.
  • Sweet Deals: School Fundraising Can Be Healthy and Profitable, Center for Science in the Public Interest (Feb.2007). Available at: http://www.cspinet.org/schoolfundraising.pdf.
  • The Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's recent report, a class="external" href="http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2008/Obesity2008Report.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2008/Obesity2008Report.pdf http://www.healthinschools.org/News-Room/Grant-Alerts/Children-and-Youth-Grants.aspx http://www.healthinschools.org/News-Room/Grant-Alerts/Youth-Garden-Grants.aspx"F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America (2008), tracks trends in obesity related rates and policies. According to the report, much progress has been made during the past five years to bring attention to the obesity problem, and many communities and states have taken action to provide programs which make physical activity and good nutrition more accessible. At the same time, the report concludes that until wide adoption of these programs occurs and steady funding is available, only limited progress will be made.
  • Center for Weight and Health, University of California, Berkeley. (2007). Dollars and sense: The financial impact of selling healthier school foods. Retrieved January 21, 2008 from http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/cwh/PDFs/Dollars_and_Sense_FINAL_3.07.pdf.
  • Institute of Medicine Meets to Review National School Lunch/Breakfast Programs (From CHHS): The Institute of Medicine Committee to Review the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs Meal Patterns and Nutrient Standards meeting on July 10, 2008, heard recommendations for improving school food programs from state and local government representatives, prepared foods manufacturers, researchers, and associations, representing students, parents, and school nutritionists, administrators and boards of education. http://www.healthinschools.org.
  • Championing Public Health Nutrition Policies (Ottawa, October 22-23, 2008): Health and food-policy experts, policymakers, and journalists from across Canada and around the world gather to explore how to reform public health nutrition policies. Issued address include: school foods, nutrition information on labels and menus, food taxes, marketing to children, reformulating foods to minimize added salt and harmful fats, and much more. For details visit www.cspinet.org/canada .
  • Impact of Neighbourhood Income on Childhood Obesity (Statistics Canada):
Children living in Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods gained more weight over an eight-year period than those living inmore middle-income areas, according to Statistics Canada Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), the study found that neighbourhood environment may be an important determinant of a child’s weight at an early age.
  • Presentations on School Nutrition: The following presentations on nutrition were made at the recent annual School Health Conference in Ottawa on April 20-23, 2008.

    • The Alberta Nutrition Guidelines (which include day care, rec centers and schools) are now available at: http://www.healthyalberta.com/Documents/AB_Nutri_Guidelines_2008(1).pdf.
    • Resources on Eating Disorders/Disordered Eating: The Student Body: a teacher training module designed to help alert teachers (and parents) to the factors that can trigger unhealthy dieting among children, and ways to prevent it. www.aboutkidshealth.ca/thestudentbody. From the Body Image Coalition of Peel (www.bodyimagecoalition.org): Every Body is a Somebody: Facilitator's Guide (or Bien dans TA peau in French) was designed to promote healthy body image, positive self-esteem, and a non-dieting approach to eating. This active learning program provides background information for the facilitator and activities to be used with adolescents. The effectiveness of this program has been evaluated with middle school girls using a classroom format² and a nurse-led peer support format, and has been shown to improve global self-esteem, body satisfaction, and eating attitudes and behaviours. From BC's "Here to Help" resource centre a variety of information and resources related to eating disorders. See: http://heretohelp.bc.ca/publications/factsheets/eating-disorders.
    • Dietitians of Canada Resources for Educators: The DC has published several excellent resources on their web site. One of these resources highlights good practice in school-based promotiom of healthy eating in a report on model programs in Manitoba.
    • Health Canada Nutrition Label Quiz:The Interactive Nutrition Label and Quiz published by Health Canada can help Canadians better understand and learn how to use nutrition information on food labels. This interactive tool can be used with students in projects and webquests. Health Canada has also published a list of Frequently Asked Questions about Nutrition Labelling For a list of student and teacher tools, visit the www.safehealthyschools.org web site where you can find a list of student webquests and lesson plans for teachers on nutrition/healthy eating.





















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