EDMONTON – A new report is giving Alberta an average mark in providing children with healthy food and nutrition.
The report card on Healthy Food Environments and Nutrition for Children and Youth gives the province a C when it comes to food availability in schools and restrictions on marketing unhealthy food to children.
Scroll down to read the full report card.
“We have more work to do to make the healthy choice for Alberta’s children and youth,” Kim Raine, co-lead on the project, said.
“We can do better. The report card can show us where and how.”
The University of Alberta report assessed the province’s performance on 41 indicators in availability of food and different types of food, marketing and advertising of food products, pricing and cost of foods, and attitudes and beliefs about food.
Alberta received an A- in foods with healthy nutrient profiles, B+ in reducing childhood food insecurity, and a C in adequate funding of childhood health promotion, food availability in school settings, and restrictions on marketing unhealthy foods to children.
The report shows introducing nutrition policy standards increases the availability of healthier food and decrease the availability of less healthy options.
It also recommends conducting annual surveys to monitor the state of school food environments.
The 2015 Report Card on Healthy Food Environments and Nutrition for Children and Youth is the first look at how Alberta’s food environments and nutrition policies support or create obstacles to improving children’s eating habits and body weights.
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