Health Issue and Related Items of
Interest
The Call to Action:
Creating a Healthy School Nutrition
Environment (March 2004;
http://www.osnpph.on.ca/pdfs/call_to_actio
n.pdf) produced by the Ontario Society of
Nutrition Professionals in Public Health
outlines a comprehensive approach to
School based nutrition promotion efforts.
The (US) Centers for Disease Control has
Guidelines for School Health Programs to
Promote Lifelong Healthy Eating (2006; .
They note that “school-based nutrition
education programs are most likely to be
effective when they: help young people
learn skills (not just facts); give students
repeated chances to practice healthy eating;
make nutrition education activities fun and
participatory; involve teachers,
administrators, families community leaders
and students in delivering strong, consistent
messages about healthy eating as part of a
coordinated, comprehensive program; are
part of a coordinated nutrition policy.”
In addition, the guidelines state that “local
school systems need to assess the nutrition
needs and issues particular to their
communities, and they need to work with
key school- and community-based
constituents, including students, to develop
the most effective and relevant nutrition
education plans for their communities.
Vigorous, coordinated,
and sustained support from communities,
local and state education and health
agencies, institutions of higher education,
and national organizations also is necessary
to ensure success.”
Teaching and Learning
A formal sequential, comprehensive health and
physical education curriculum for grades K
through 12 is a cornerstone of a CSH approach
to health. Such education should help students to
establish skills (e.g. how to plan a healthy meal;
physical literacy skills and how to incorporate
physical activity in to their daily lives, etc.), be
culturally relevant and age appropriate.
Curriculum efforts should also include learning
general health skills such as assessing health
habits, setting goals for improvement and
resisting social pressures to make unhealthy
choices.
Involve family and community in supporting and
reinforcing healthy living.
Teacher training focused on teaching strategies
for promoting healthy eating habits is key. In
addition, teachers and school communities
should be aware of ongoing support services and
resources offered in the community (e.g. by
Public Health, voluntary organizations, etc.) that
can help support teaching efforts.
Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating has
recently been updated and is now available. My
Food Guide is an associated interactive tool that
can help personalize the information found in
Canada's Food Guide.
Region of Peel Health Department, Toronto
Public Health and York Region Health Services
have updated “Discover Healthy Eating! A
Teacher’s Resource for Grades 1-8, 2000”.
Materials are available at
http://www.toronto.ca/health/dhe_index.htm
Health and other Support
Services
School Health Committees
provide opportunities to establish
needs, set visions and to work
towards engaging the full range of
school community stakeholders
including outside
organizations/partners.
Outside facilitators, such as those
from the NB Healthy Learners
Program
(http://www.gnb.ca/0053/program
s/healthylearners-e.asp) and other
Public Health staff allocated to
work directly with schools may
significantly enhance schools’
efforts to work with assessment
tools (e.g. the CDC School Health
Index) and influence the
organizational strategies they use
to implement health promotion
initiatives. (“Facilitating Change
in School Health: A Qualitative
Study of Schools’ Experiences
Using the School Health Index”
www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2006/apr
/05_0116.htm ).
Support the development and
sustainability of school
nourishment programs, including
breakfast, lunch and snack
programs and a key element of a
CSH approach to healthy eating.
Breakfast for Learning has
developed nutrition education
resources to help communities
operate effective nutrition
Supportive Social Environment
Encourage and support school
staff in promoting
and modeling healthy eating
behaviours while
at school.
Discourage teachers from using
food to discipline or as rewards.
The Connecticut State Dept. of
Education has a teacher-friendly
document directed at this. See:
http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/
PDF/DEPS/Student/NutritionEd/F
ood_As_Reward_HO1.pdf
Ensure a safe food environment
with sufficient time to eat where
all students are comfortable and
can enjoy eating.
The HeartSmart Family Fun
Pack™ incorporates games, tips
and information for families on
how to adopt a heart healthy
lifestyle, including physical
activity, proper nutrition and a
tobacco-free environment.
The tri-Territory Drop the Pop
campaign is geared to promoting
healthier choices for beverages.
“Not Gonna Kill You”is a
campaign that speaks directly to
young people aged 12-15 about
the importance of healthy eating
and active living. See
www.notgonnakillyou.ca
Healthy Physical
Environment
The development and adoption
of food and nutrition policies
that create and support healthy
eating environments in schools
and integral to supporting
healthy eating.
The Food and Nutrition Policy
for Nova Scotia Public
Schools, introduced last
September, gives the province's
430 schools three years to
phase out foods and beverages
of minimum nutrition and
replace them with healthier
fare.
The MB School Nutrition
Handbook handbook is
designed to help school
communities develop nutrition
policies and implement
changes to promote healthier
eating options; providing
practical guidelines that can be
adapted to reflect local
priorities.
The PEI Healthy Eating
Alliance
(http://www.gov.pe.ca/peihea/)
supports implementation of
school nutrition policies by
providing all elementary
schools with School Healthy
Eating Toolkits, a newsletter
called Healthy EatS
Newsbites;a comprehensive
web site includes: Information
1
Health Issue and Related Items of
Interest
Ophea’s School Nutrition Initiative
(www.ophea.net) is a comprehensive
framework designed to address the
individual and environmental influences on
the healthy eating behaviours of Ontario’s
children and youth from kindergarten to
grade 12.
Making it Happen – Healthy Eating at
Schools is a BC-based online how-to
resource to help parents, policymakers,
teachers and the entire school community to
review current school nutrition policy and
make plans for healthy changes. In addition
it offers a series of helpful information
resources.
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/health/health_pu
blications.htm houses a variety of
information documents geared to informing
schools about healthy eating.
The Action Schools! BC Healthy Eating
Program is a comprehensive school
program targeted to grades K-9. The goal of
AS! BC is to provide schools with a
framework for action as well as tools and
supports to enhance opportunities to
promote healthy eating at school.
Making It Happen—School Nutrition
Success Stories
(MIH) http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/nu
trition/Making-It-Happen/pdf/exec.pdf
illustrates a wide variety of approaches that
schools have taken in the US to improve
student nutrition.
The Coordinated Approach To Child Health
Teaching and Learning
The NWT Food Guide and the Nunavut Food
Guilde are excellent examples of adapting
resources to ensure they are culturally relevant.
(http://www.hlthss.gov.nt.ca and
http://www.gov.nu.ca/hsssite).
The Nutrition in the Classroom: Teacher
Resources section from the PEI Healthy Eating
Alliance’s School Healthy Eating Toolkit
Provides a great line-up of current and teacherfriendly instructional related nutrition resources.
Mission Nutrition* (www.missionnutrition.ca)
is a joint initiative of Dietitians of Canada and
Kellogg Canada and is designed for teachers of
grades K-8. Its focus includes healthy eating,
physical activity and positive self-esteem.
Planet Health (US) aims to improve activity and
dietary behaviors among gr.6-8 students.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/prc/proj_planet.ht
ml
Supersize Me:
A Discussion Guide for Educators [PDF, 8.8MB]
(December 2005) is a discussion guide
developed in response to educators requesting a
tool to help with the use of the movie Super Size
Me in the classroom. OSNPPH does not
encourage the use of, or endorse this movie and
we recommend that Super Size Me only be
shown in classrooms with guided discussion
around the sensitive and controversial subjects
presented.
Health and other Support
Services
programs that feed kids nutritious
meals and help them learn about
healthy eating including Eat Right
to Survive and Thrive and Eat
Right Be Bright.
The BC School Fruit and
Vegetable Program
(http://www.aitc.ca/bc/snacks/)
and Ontario’s Northern Fruit and
Vegetable Pilot Program
(www.mhp.gov.on.ca) are two
related measures aimed at
supporting healthy eating through
schools.
Presentations to parents, ready to
use materials for school
newsletters, Public Health staff
consultation with schools to
support implementation are part
of Take Action Towards Healthy
Eating (www.toronto.ca/health).
in Schools, an initiative to support
schools in promoting healthy
eating from Toronto Public
Health.
Public Health Dietitians offering
support to schools is another
example of support services
deemed to be helpful for
supporting progress.
Supportive Social Environment
The NFLD Provincial Youth
summit (2005) was a start to
engaging the province’s youth in
living an active and healthy
lifestyle and support them in
taking the concepts learned from
the summit back into their
communities, schools and
families and to take a leadership
role in promoting the benefits of
eating healthy, staying active and
being smoke free.
Healthy Physical
Environment
for Parents; Healthy Eating
Tips; Information for Students
and Information for Teachers.
Feeding the Minds and Bodies
of BC Students - Healthy
Students are Better Learners
(www.dietitians.ca/resources/di
strict_tool_2006.pdf) raises
awareness to support healthy
eating at school.
Eat Smart! School Cafeteria
Program
(http://eatsmart.web.ca/) from
Ontario is an award of
excellence for schools that
promote food safety and
healthy food choices in their
cafeterias.
”Healthy Active School
Communities” is a made in
Alberta resource which can be
used throughout the year to
assist in creating a school
environment supportive of
healthy, active choices.
Produced in collaboration with
a variety of healthy living
partners, the resource identifies
the home, school and
community as essential
stakeholders in addressing
three key elements: Active
Living, Healthy Eating and
Tobacco Reduction. This
resource is also available in
French.
2
Health Issue and Related Items of
Interest
(CATCH) is a (US) coordinated school
health program which builds an alliance of
parents, teachers, child nutrition personnel,
school staff, and community partners to
teach children and their families how to be
healthy for a lifetime. The four CATCH
components - Go For Health Classroom
Curriculum, CATCH Physical Education,
Eat Smart School Nutrition Guide, and
family Home Team activities - reinforce
positive healthy behaviors throughout a
child's day and make it clear that good
health and learning go hand in hand.
From Health Canada and the Canadian
Association for School Health: Schools and
Nutrition: Food for Thought
http://www.safehealthyschools.org/healthye
ating/Food%20for%20ThoughtPDFVersion
.pdf
Physical Activity
For a more comprehensive scan on key
school based physical education and
physical activity initiatives ongoing
across Canada see: www.cahperd.ca
The CDC’s Guidelines for Schools to
Promote Lifelong Physical Activity serve as
a basis for guiding a CSH approach to
promoting physical activity in young
people. See:
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/physicala
ctivity/guidelines/summary.htm
Exposing children to a wide variety of
physical activities and sports at school, and
seeking their input on activities they would
like to try, are an excellent way to
encourage participation. Schools can do this
Teaching and Learning
Health and other Support
Services
Supportive Social Environment
Physical education curricula and instruction in
grades K–12 should: emphasize enjoyable
participation in lifetime physical activities such
as walking and dancing, not just competitive
sports; help students develop the knowledge,
attitudes, and skills they need to adopt and
maintain a physically active lifestyle and keep
students active for most of class time.
Active and Safe Routes to School
(www.goforgreen.ca) is a national
program that encourages the use
of active modes of transportation
to and from school. Many fun and
easy to use tools are provided for
teachers, students, parents and
community partners.
Encourage parents and guardians
to support their children’s
participation in physical activity,
to be physically active role
models, and to include physical
activity in family events.
Health and Physical Education Curriculum,
Grades 1-8 has been updated to reflect Ontario’s
recent policy change related to 20 minutes of
Quality Daily Physical Activity each day to
ensure that elementary students have a minimum
of 20 minutes of sustained moderate to vigorous
physical activity each school day. Find out more
and see teaching resources at:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/healthyschools/dp
CAHPERD’s Quality School
Intramural Recreation (QSIR)
programs and initiatives help to
enhance intramural and recreation
programs in schools by providing
resources and leadership skill
development for students and
teachers to lead intramural
and recreation programs. See
http://www.cahperd.ca/eng/intram
Discourage the use or withholding
of physical activity as
punishment.
Action Schools! BC
helps schools promote healthy
living, including integrating
physical activity throughout the
day. See www.actionschoolsbc.ca
Everactive Schools
Healthy Physical
Environment
Provide access to safe spaces
and facilities and implement
measures to prevent activityrelated injuries and illnesses.
Provide school time, such as
recess, for unstructured
physical activity, such as
jumping rope.
Provide health promotion
programs for school faculty and
staff.
Schools should be community
hubs where all people can
gather to learn, participate in
community-based
organizations and stay active.
3
Health Issue and Related Items of
Interest
through daily physical education
programming, structured physical activity
programs at lunch periods, intramural and
inter-school sport program and other extracurriculum physical activities. Some
examples of such initiatives are included
here.
Key Strategies to Prevent Obesity (CDC):
Make a Difference at Your School!. The
research-based strategies outlined in Make a
Difference at Your School! are described in:
The Role of Schools in Preventing
Childhood Obesity
The State Education Standard 2004;5(2):412. See also Childhood Overweight for
more facts, resources, and links.
The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle
Research Institute (CFLRI) recently
released the first set of topics from their
2006 Capacity Study. The study
examines physical activity policies,
programs, facilities, and opportunities
available in Canadian schools. See
www.cflri.ca.
The Coordinated Approach To Child Health
(CATCH) is a (US) coordinated school
health program which builds an alliance of
parents, teachers, child nutrition personnel,
school staff, and community partners to
teach children and their families how to be
healthy for a lifetime. The four CATCH
components - Go For Health Classroom
Curriculum, CATCH Physical Education,
Eat Smart School Nutrition Guide, and
family Home Team activities - reinforce
Teaching and Learning
a.html
As of Sept. 2005, Alberta Education is
implementing a requirement for 30 minutes of
Daily Physical Activity (DPA) for all students in
grades 1-9 Implementation information for
teachers is available in the resource handbooks.
See
http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum
/bysubject/dpa.asp.
The Minister of Education, Leisure and Sport has
mandated an additional 90 minutes of
instructional time per week in Québec schools.
Read more at:
http://www.cahperd.ca/eng/story_detail.cfm?id=
185.
The new Newfoundland physical education
curriculum promotes life-long, healthy living,
from kindergarten to senior high. It reinforces for
students the importance of being active and
physically fit for life.
CAHPERD’s Quality Daily Physical Education
(QDPE) Recognition Award Program (RAP)
identifies, recognizes and encourages excellence
in school physical education programs. See
www.cahperd.ca.
Schools Come Alive Project
Coordinated by the Health and Physical
Education Council of the Alberta’s Teachers’
Association and provides support, resources and
workshops related to healthy living and
physical education.
http://www.schoolscomealive.org/
Health and other Support
Services
urals/about_qsir.cfm
In Nova Scotia, sport animators
work as a liaison between schools
and communities to enhance
opportunities for kids and their
families to participate in sport.
The PEI Active Living Alliance
and the PEI Healthy Eating
Alliance are have developed a
new healthy living CD and DVD
for use by elementary schools,
kindergartens, family resource
centres, recreation leaders and
early childhood educators to help
promote healthy living to children
ages 4 – 8 years old. They also
have rolled out a pedometer
program for elementary students
called “PEI Stepping Out” and a
“Healthy Active Homerooms’
initiative. See:
http://www.peiactiveliving.com/g
etactive.htm
Everybody gets to play, an
initiative of the Canadian Parks
and Recreation Association
(www.cpra.ca) is designed to
help recreation practitioners and
others, such as educators,
mobilize the resources already
available in their community to
help increase opportunities for
physical activity for children and
their families.
Supportive Social Environment
(www.everactive.org) is a
provincial program in AB that
includes Energizer workshops for
teachers and student leadership
opportunities all aimed at helping
school communities be healthier
and more active.
Active Yukon Schools
A program based on the Alberta
EverActive program whereby
participating schools
commit to the integration of daily
physical activity and healthy
living.”
www.rpay.org
Live Outside the Box is an
initiative in AB geared to
promoting fun, active alternatives
to screen time.
Central Western Ontario TVTurnoff Week Leader-Teacher
Package
(http://www.lin.ca/resource/html/
noTVWeek/ac781.pdf) is a
related initiative that is being
adapted and used throughout
Ontario
Saskatchewan in Motion targets
children and youth in their school
and home setting It aims to
improve their ability to access a
wide variety of physical activities,
their ability to support a
physically active lifestyle within
their learning, living and play
environments and improve their
Healthy Physical
Environment
Ontario’s new “community use
of school” initiative supports
this. Read more:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/
general/elemsec/community/
Alberta Education as of Sept/05
is implementing a requirement
for 30 minutes of Daily
Physical Activity (DPA) for all
students in grades 1-9. The
DPA Initiative is part of a
broader Wellness Framework,
which is currently under
development to help Alberta
students adopt healthy
lifestyles.
Programmed for Success:
Making DPA Work
www.centre4activeliving.ca/pu
blications/wellspring.html
is a June/06 issue of
WellSpring, a publication of
the Alberta Centre for Active
Living includes articles of
interest that focus on how to
make daily physical activity in
schools work, including
suggestions for fitting DPA
into timetables and ways to
adapt activities for children at
different developmental levels.
Ontario’s Policy/Program
Memorandum No. 138: Daily
Physical Activity in
Elementary Schools, Grades 18 is a good start to promoting
physical activity in schools.
4
Health Issue and Related Items of
Interest
positive healthy behaviors throughout a
child's day and make it clear that good
health and learning go hand in hand.
Teaching and Learning
Health and other Support
Services
Supportive Social Environment
skills, confidence and knowledge
to access community based
physical activity opportunities.
http://www.saskatchewaninmotio
n.ca/
Healthy Physical
Environment
See www.edu.gov.on.ca.
Active Schools (ON) program
for K-8 is designed to motivate
and recognize schools for
getting up, moving and making
the commitment to leading
active, healthy lives. See
http://www.ophea.net/activesch
ools.cfm.
Active Recess programs, such
as the one produced by the City
of Hamilton Public Health
Services (ON) are geared to
helping maximize the amount
of physical activity at recess.
Active Recess
Manual REVISED November 2006.pdf
Tobacco-Free Living
CDC’s Guidelines for School Health
Programs to Prevent Tobacco Use and
Addiction state that “school programs to
prevent tobacco use and addiction will be
most effective if they:

prohibit tobacco use at all school
facilities and events

encourage and help students and staff
to quit using tobacco

provide developmentally appropriate
instruction in grades K–12 that
addresses the social and psychological
causes of tobacco use

are part of a coordinated school health
program through which teachers,
bc.tobaccofacts:
Ministry of Health partnered with the Ministry of
Education to consult with teachers and health
experts across the province to create
bc.tobaccofacts - A Tobacco Prevention
Resource for Teachers, Grades 4-12.
Lungs are for Life is from the Ontario Lung
Association and the Ontario Physical and Health
Education Association. This resource for grades
K – 12 includes facts and information about
tobacco use along with activities and Web links.
The Lung Association offers a variety of
materials on on-line games. See:
http://www.lung.ca/lung101-renseignez/teachersenseignants_e.php
Quit 4 Life (Q4L)/Vie 100
Fumer youth cessation program
(Health Canada) is a minimal
contact, self-help program for
teens who smoke cigarettes on a
daily basis. Click here for a 20
page Lessons Learned summary
of this intervention.
Kick the Nic school-based peer
support cessation program is
offered by local health authorities
and the BC Centre for Addiction
Research (BC-CAR). This
program is also run in Alberta
through the Alberta Alcohol and
Youth-led anti tobacco initiatives
seem to show promise. Some
examples include:
Teens Against Tobacco Use
(TATU) is a NB based initiative
geared to supporting youth
leadership on school-based
tobacco prevention related
activities. See:
www.tobaccofreeschools.ca
The Smokefree Spaces Activist
Toolkit (Health Canada)
supports Canadian youth in
taking action against second-
Smoke-free schools and school
property are key to supporting
tobacco-free lifestyles in youth.
The Ontario government has
comprehensive smoke-free
legislation that prohibits
smoking in schools and on
school property and recently
(May 2006) release updated
legislation to make it more
comprehensive. Find out more
about the new Smoke-Free
Ontario legislation.
Smoking is prohibited in all
NB school buildings, on all
5
Health Issue and Related Items of
Interest
students, families, administrators, and
community leaders deliver consistent
messages about tobacco use

are reinforced by communitywide
efforts to prevent tobacco use and
addiction. “
The Program Training and Consultation
Centre Better Practices Toolkit is designed
to help community workers in Ontario make
the best use of limited resources. It is a
database of tobacco control interventions
that experts have assessed as either
‘recommended’ or ‘promising’. It provides
a menu of recommended practices and
promising practices based on the Ontario
context and experience. (note that only ON
residents can order materials from PTCC
though many resources are available in PDF
versions).
Investigating a School-Based Approach to
Tobacco Control: The Hampton High
School Initiative (Health Canada) offers
lessons learned arising from the initial
implementation of the Hampton High
School project which may provide valuable
insights for other educational jurisdictions
that plan to undertake similar school-based
tobacco control policies or activities.
Teaching and Learning
Smoke Free For Life is a tobacco prevention
curriculum learning resource for grades primary
to nine. The learning resource was developed by
the Nova Scotia Department of Health and meets
criteria for effective school smoking prevention
programming. Copies of the supplement can be
ordered through the NS Book Bureau.
Teaming Up for Tobacco-Free Kids is an
Alberta based prevention program aimed at
grades 4-6 that a resource section for teachers
and great activities and information for gr.4-6
children. http://www.tobaccostinks.com
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (US) A
resource and partner for more than 130 health,
civic, corporate, youth and religious groups
dedicated to reducing tobacco use among
children. It is the largest non-government
initiative ever launched to protect children from
tobacco addiction and exposure to second-hand
smoke. It is a good place to find a lot of articles
and research on the fight against tobacco
companies.
Health and other Support
Services
Drug Abuse Commission and in
PEI.
A Program Checklist for
Selecting Smoking Cessation
Resources for Youth featured on
the web site for the Ontario-based
Program Training and
Consultation Centre
(http://www.ptcccfc.on.ca/index.cfm) can help you
select programs and strategies for
smoking cessation for youth. It
extracts key principles as well as
lists programs that represent
"better practices" for smoking
cessation in youth.
Supportive Social Environment
hand smoke.
The Youth Tobacco Vortal
Project (ON) was designed to
reach youth with tobacco control
messages and news of local
tobacco-related activities, via the
Internet. The Project consists of a
network of inter-related websites.
See www.smoke-fx.com.
No More Butts!: Buddy
Handbook; No More Butts!:
Program Implementation Guide ;
No More Butts!: Peer Leader's
Guide are materials related to a
secondary school-based tobacco
cessation program for youth,
produced by Nova Scotia Health
Promotion.
BLAST (Building Leadership for
Action in Schools Today): a
program that encourages tobacco
prevention through leadership and
skill development for students in
grades 7-9.
http://www.blastonline.com.PEI
has a similar initiative called
PEI, Students Working in
Tobacco Can Help (SWITCH)
Ontario based www.Stupid.ca and
its related media campaign is
intended to raise awareness about
the dangers of smoking. The
campaign includes TV, cinema
and print advertising targeted to
youth 12 to 15 years old.
Healthy Physical
Environment
school grounds at all times, as
per the Smoke-free Places Act.
Furthermore Policy 702 from
the NB Department of
Education has been updated to
reflect the new legislation and
go a step further to also address
smokeless (chew) tobacco use
at schools.
Tobacco Free Sport Challenge
is a BC initiative that helps
provide young people with a
healthy, smoke-free
environment in which to play.
Tobacco Free Sports is a
related joint initiative of
Canadian Cancer Society and
the Heart and Stroke
Foundation of Canada.
NOT TO KIDS! is a
community-wide campaign
developed by public health
agencies and their community
partners. This program
encourages the community,
tobacco retailers, youth and
schools to take action to keep
cigarettes away from anyone
under 19. The overall goal of
NOT TO KIDS! is to decrease
the selling and supplying of
tobacco to youth.
6
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