Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Currently in the western world, diet-related chronic diseases account for the largest cause of morbidity and mortality (Bernhard et al., 2007). Our population's poor eating habits are leading to increasing rates of obesity, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and have reached epidemic proportions (Bernhard et al., 2007). The 2009 Heart and Stroke Report on the health of Ontario kids states that if we do not address the poor eating habits of the current generation, these children will face a shorter lifespan than that of their parents due to the risks of developing diet-related chronic diseases (Heart and Stroke Foundation, 2010). A shift in the way our children perceive how their food choices affect their own health, the health of the environment and most importantly how the two are linked is desperately needed. For this to be realized, we need effective public health promotion strategies that will encourage and inspire children to make healthy food choices thus addressing one of the major causes of illness. Through this research paper I plan to address the question of whether an ecological approach to health and food choice can be used as an effective public health promotion strategy for young children. This research project will utilize a community-based health research approach in creating an educational workshop series for children aged 4 to 6 within three Early Childhood Centers in the Ottawa area. Using play, storytelling, and the creative arts, the workshop will emphasize an ecological approach to health and food choice by encouraging children to make healthy food choices, while teaching them about the connections between their food choices, their health, and the environment. This will allow us to provide children with the best possible start in life with a foundation of healthy food choice habits. It is hoped that this research will be applied to develop further public health promotion programs.