Assessing the impact of healthy eating and physical activity policies on school based practices and health and health behaviours of children in Nova Scotia

Childhood obesity is a major public health concern in Canada. The Children's Lifestyle and School Performance Study (CLASS) was conducted in 2003 and demonstrated the extent of this concern in Nova Scotia by identifying that 32.9% of grade 5 children were overweight, with 9.9% considered obese. CLASS also shed light on the significance of unhealthy eating and sedentary behaviours of children in Nova Scotia and contributed to the development of recent provincial policies and programs addressing these issues. However, the effectiveness of these policies and programs is not known. We do not know how policies and programs have translated into healthier school practices or if and how this translates into healthy eating and active living behaviours and healthier body weights among children. Knowledge of the effectiveness of policies and programs is important to justify past investments and inform future policy decisions. The proposed research will collect data and analyze changes related to healthy eating and active living at four different levels: programs and policies by the (1) Provincial Government and (2) among School Boards; (3) school practices; and characteristics of (4) children and families. Qualitative and quantitative methods are proposed to study how Provincial and School Boards policies and programs have affected school practices and to shed light to how changes in policies and practices are related to changes in diet, physical activity and body weights between 2003 (original CLASS observations) and 2011 (proposed data collection). The results of this study will demonstrate which policies, programs and practices have been significant in addressing factors related to children's health and health behaviours. This research will help to inform future strategies by demonstrating "what has worked and why" in a province where childhood obesity rates are among the highest in the country.