Evidence shows that good nutrition and healthy eating promote the development of children and supports their performance in school. We also know that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the routines of children and families and affected their meal choices and eating patterns. How will this impact children's development and how well they do in school? And what can be done to mitigate these impacts?
Today, in the context of Nutrition Month, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health and his Parliamentary Secretary, Adam van Koeverden announced funding of nearly $1 million for a new research project. This project will examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the eating habits of children and the link between their nutrition and their physical and mental development and educational performance.
The project will be led by Dr. Catherine Birken, a Paediatrician and Senior Scientist in the Child Health Evaluative Sciences program at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto. Dr. Birken and her team will engage the TARGet Kids! study cohort to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the eating behaviours, dietary intake, and food environment of children aged 0 to 12 in the Greater Toronto Area. The study will also investigate how these changes have potentially impacted motor, cognitive, language, emotional and behavioural development, school readiness, and academic achievement. The research team will also test a nutrition-focused virtual intervention for children aged two to five to equip parents with the skills and resources they need to promote healthy eating behaviours that can help improve the nutrition, development and education outcomes in children.
This funding is provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) as part of its ongoing investments in research to support Canada's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
