October 19, 2007

By Rosanne Prinsen, MSc, Alberta Centre for Active Living

CHILDREN

2007 Report Card on Nutrition for School Children
http://www.breakfastforlearning.ca/english/resources/
index_ReportCard2007.html
Breakfast for learning’s 2007 Report Card on Nutrition for School Children gives Canadian children and adolescents a “D” when it comes to meeting the recommendations of the new 2007 Canada’s Food Guide.

Are schools making the grade? School nutrition policies across Canada
http://www.cspinet.org/canada/pdf/makingthe
grade_1007.pdf
A resource from the Centre for Science in the Public Interest.

CDC school health index
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/shi/Static/paper.aspx
This resource includes:

• Module 3: Physical Education and other physical activity programs.
• Module 4: Nutrition Services. You can choose between an index for elementary schools or middle/high schools.

You can access a “customizable paper format and select only those health topics you wish to address. After selecting the health topics, you will be able to print and complete the SHI on paper.”

Childhood obesity: An environmental scan among health region partners of the Southern Alberta Child & Youth Health Network: 2006 http://www.sacyhn.ca/media/pdf/external_childhood
_obesity_scan.pdf
Prepared by the Joint Consortium for School Health Secretariat in June 2006 (updated by the Canadian Association for School Health Feb, 2007), this document is full of active links to many other documents and reports.

Communities and schools promoting health
http://www.safehealthyschools.org/index.htm
“This gateway website provides access to many resources in school health promotion as well as being home for the Canadian School Health Centre and the Canadian School Health NGO Network. There is also reference to the School Health Research Network as another part of the school health promotion community in Canada. These organizations, as well as many others initiatives are linked in an effort to create the Canadian School Health Knowledge Network.”

Dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviour among Australian secondary students in 2005
Scully M., Dixon H., White H., & Beckmann K. (2007). Dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviour among Australian secondary students in 2005. Health Promotion International, 22(3), 236–245.

Environmental scan of childhood obesity in the Calgary region: 2005 http://www.sacyhn.ca/media/pdf/Environmental
_Scan_Obesity.pdf
A resource prepared for the Southern Alberta Child & Youth Health Network.

Environmental scan of Pan-Canadian activities related to schools and nutrition
http://www.safehealthyschools.org/Nutritionand
Schools.pdf
This report comes from the Joint Consortium For School Health Secretariat.

How to conduct a school health audit
http://www.chdf.org.au/i-cms_file?
page=824/hpsbook07.pdf
This resource even has sample questions.

Physical activity measurement in children 2–5 years of age
http://www.cpah.health.usyd.edu.au/pdfs/2007
_pa_measurement_farrell.pdf
Here’s another resource from Australia.

Review of physical activity interventions for children from 2 to 5 years of age
http://www.cpah.health.usyd.edu.au/pdfs/2007_pa
_interventions.pdf
This is a new resource from Australia.

This study assessed Australian secondary students’ self-reported dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviour and also examined the relationship between television viewing and students’ dietary behaviour.

CONFERENCES/SYMPOSIUMS/WEB EVENTS

Getting children and youth to walk and cycle more: Webinar November 9, 2007

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=
UVNbsPZGBf6zEYg_2b191NCw_3d_3d

This webinar will feature two practical approaches for getting children and youth to walk and cycle more.

Dr. O’Brien will cover the Centre for Sustainable Transportation’s Child and Youth Friendly Land Use and Transport Planning Guidelines, their rationale, and her work with Ontario municipalities in implementing the guidelines.

Jacky Kennedy will present highlights of Green Communities Canada’s Active and Safe Routes to School program, including related barriers and benefits, and the results achieved and lessons learned over many years of implementation.

The first 75 qualified Canadian registrants will have their fees covered by Transport Canada’s Urban Transportation Showcase Program. Presented on Friday, November 9, 2007, 12 noon Eastern Time.

Presenters: Catherine O’Brien, Cape Breton University; and Jacky Kennedy, Green Communities Canada.

NUTRITION

“My food guide online” available to print in multiple languages
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/nr-cp
/2007/2007_145_e.html
On October 9, 2007, the Hon. Tony Clement, Minister of Health, announced that “My Food Guide Online” is now available to print in multiple languages.

Release of CCHS cycle 2.2, nutrition (2004): Nutrient Intakes from Food, Provincial, regional and national summary data tables
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/pubs/
cchs-nutri-escc/index_e.html
This first volume includes 13 sets of data tables that compile Canadians’ usual intakes from in 2004 for a set of nutrients based on the Nutrition Facts table.

Results are presented for 13 geographical areas in the country, i.e., the 10 provinces, the Atlantic Region, Prairie Region, and Canada excluding the Territories. The document does not provide any interpretation or draw conclusions.

GENERAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Cost of physical inactivity: What is the lack of participation in physical activity costing Australia?
http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/AusPAnet
_Article_Commentary_4
A new report from Medibank Private, Australia s largest provider of medical insurance, has calculated a $1.5 billion cost each year to the public and private health sectors for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions attributable to physical inactivity in the adult population.

ParticipACTION launches national movement to move Canadians
http://www.participaction.com/
ParticipACTION’s public awareness campaign is targeted to all Canadians with an emphasis on parents and Canadian youth.

With only 9% of Canadian children and youth (aged 5 to 19) meeting the recommended guidelines in Canada’s Physical Activity Guides for Children and Youth, ParticipACTION’s new ads seek to show the implications of youth inactivity and motivate parents to make physical activity a priority at home.

The campaign will include TV and radio advertisements that will run nationally from October 2007 to March 2008.

RECREATION

Physical activity and building stronger communities
http://www.cpah.health.usyd.edu.au/pdfs/
2007_pa_communities1.pdf
A resource from Australia.

ThemePARC: Creating healthy communities through active living
http://www.ophea.net/parc/themeparc.cfm
This resource was developed by Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition (OHCC). For more information on OHCC and their Healthy Communities and the Built Environment Project, go to http://www.healthycommunities.on.ca.

URBAN DESIGN

Linking health and the built environment: An annotated bibliography of Canadian and other related research
http://www.healthycommunities.on.ca/
publications/HCBE/index.html
This literature review reported on studies identifying and exploring the relationships between the built environment and the health of Ontario’s population, with attention to our diversity. (Scroll down the page a bit to find the link to the pdf.)

WORKPLACE

Healthy Workplace Week: October 22^–27^, 2007
http://www.healthyworkplaceweek.ca/
Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week is a yearly celebration of workplace health in Canadian organizations.