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Healthy Active Living - Policy and Practice in Canadian Academic Pediatric Health Centres – Working together to promote practice change
Over twenty-six percent of Canadian youth are overweight/obese and at risk of developing health complications. As community leaders integrally involved with children's health, it is vital that pediatric hospitals play a role in obesity prevention and health promotion for children, families and staff.
In 2006, in partnership with the Canadian Association of Pediatric Health Centres (CAPHC) and the Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS) we surveyed healthy active living (HAL) policy and practice in all sixteen CAPHC member organizations. Survey data revealed that the majority of organizations did not adequately enable patients, families and staff to eat foods of highest nutritive value and become more physically active.
In 2009, a modified HAL survey was again completed by the sixteen CAPHC member organizations, which found little change had occurred. Specifically sixty-two percent had fast food/coffee franchises and thirty-eight percent increased vending machine numbers. None had physical activity promotion policies.
To address these deficiencies, we convened a meeting of a multi-disciplinary, pan-Canadian task force in Edmonton on April 27th, 2009. The ideas generated by this national task force and associated research is captured in the enclosed booklet “Healthy Active Living - Policy and Practice in Canadian Academic Pediatric Health Centres – Working together to promote practice change”. This compendium of ideas outlines several options, referred to as “Gold, Silver and Bronze Standards” to begin to address the current challenges and subsequent risks shared by all Canadian children’s hospitals.
Going forward, we hope to work with and engage all Children’s Hospitals who participated in the original surveys, as well as welcome other organizations, in an active national campaign to pilot and implement these changes within and across organizations. We welcome your feedback on these various ideas and invite new colleagues to join us as part of our HAL Pan-Canadian Task Force.
Sincerely,
Claire MA LeBlanc MD, FRCPC
Associate Professor Pediatrics
University of Alberta
CAPHC 2007 Annual Meeting
Childhood Obesity: Do We Have the Right Perspective?
Concurrent Session Presentations
Diane Finegood, Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Nutrition Metabolism and Diabetes,
Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia
» View presentation
Marie Lambert, full professor, Faculty of Medicine — Pediatrics, University of Montreal,
Research Centre of the CHU Sainte-Justine
» View presentation
Mark Tremblay, Director, Healthy Living and Obesity Research, Children’s Hospital of
Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario
» View presentation
Symposium Proceedings
The goal of this national symposium was to bring forward inter-professional perspectives and evidence to explore current prevention and treatment strategies in the childhood obesity epidemic in Canada.
The symposium explored:
- Obesity – a chronic and irreversible disease?
- Risk management;
- What is making a difference?
- What are we missing?
- How can we be part of the solution?
The symposium was made possible through the support and partnership of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
» Proceedings
Practicing What We Preach: A Look at Healthy Active Living Policy and Practice in Canadian Paediatric Hospitals
Introduction/Background
- The Canadian Pediatric Society’s committee on Healthy Active Living (HAL) and the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centers (CAPHC) conducted a Survey of Healthy Active Living Policies in all Canadian pediatric hospitals.
- This survey was an initiative based on the recommendations made at the 2005 CAPHC Annual meeting symposium entitled: “The Pediatric Obesity Crisis: Working Together for Change” - http://www.caphc.org/annual_2005_presentations.php
- Subsequently, CPS and CAPHC have made a commitment to work with other experts and partner organizations to address the childhood obesity crisis in Canada. CPS continues to see childhood obesity as a top priority and as such is looking forward to this collaborative endeavor.
Goals and Objectives
- To obtain an overview of healthy active living (HAL) policy & practice in Canadian Pediatric Hospitals.
Milestones to Date
- A nation-wide survey was conducted between November 2006 and May 2007 to identify healthy eating, physical activity, & smoking cessation practices in all 16 Canadian Pediatric Academic Hospitals.
- No formal hypothesis testing will be performed as data are intended to be exploratory
Going Forward
Partnerships
- All sixteen Children’s Hospitals in Canada
- CPS
- CAPHC
Addressing Childhood Obesity: The Evidence for Action
Partnership Initiative with the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) - Institute of Nutrition Metabolism and Diabetes, and the Paediatric Chairs of Canada (PCC)
March 15, 2004
Current prevalence estimates indicate that approximately 15% of Canadian children may meet CDC criteria for “overweight”, and that another 30-40% may be “at risk for overweight”. This high and rapidly increasing prevalence will significantly impact the health of Canadians over the course of the next century. While action to stabilize and reverse this trend is urgently required, such action must be based on the best available evidence to ensure optimal outcomes and cost-effectiveness. This report reviews existing high-quality evidence for interventions to prevent and treat childhood obesity. Interventions supported by high-quality evidence are presented as recommendations for action. Where evidence is lacking or conflicting, recommendations for research priorities highlight information urgently required to direct future interventions.
» Executive Summary
» Full Report (English)
» Full Report (French)
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