Youth Health Rights: Tweet Chat and Online Focus Group Hosted by the YCRH

In partnership with the AstraZeneca Young Health Program, the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health (YCRH) has been working to engage young people in understanding their health rights and communicating to government their needs for better health access and outcomes. The YCRH has completed a research project with the University of Toronto and held focus groups with people aged 15-30 to gain an understanding around the knowledge and experiences of youth when it comes to their health rights and health access.

They used their findings to create www.youthhealthrights.ca. Now the YCRH wants to hear from more Canadians - including you!

  • On October 30th, 2018, from 1-3pm EST, join the YCRH for an online cross-Canada focus group on youth health access and rights. Share your experiences and thoughts about accessing health services in your community and how you understand your health rights.

  • Following the focus group, @TheYCRH will be hosting a Tweet chat from 3-4pm EST. They'll use the hashtag, #YouthRightsCDN to talk about what policy actions youth want to see to make health care and rights more accessible, and how governments can partner with youth to make health policies stronger.

For more details and to register for the focus group, visit the YCRH’s Community Engagement Toolkit.

Food Allergy Canada: This Halloween, shine a light on food allergy

For kids with food allergies, Halloween can present a few challenges and it can be overwhelming at times for parents, especially if you have a child who is newly diagnosed with food allergies.

So how can we take the fright out of food allergies, and make Halloween a safer, more inclusive holiday for everyone? By shining a teal light on the issue!

Food Allergy Canada has launched a new Canadian Halloween campaign focused on driving food allergy awareness and support for kids with this medical condition. They’re asking everyone to Shine a light on food allergies by placing a teal light on your porch on Halloween night.

Check out Food Allergy Canada’s new Halloween section to learn more about this new initiative. Be sure to take advantage of their tips, tools, and other resources, so you can navigate this holiday with confidence.

Canadian National Father Involvement Conference

Feb 28 & Mar 1, 2019 in Ottawa

Hosted by Dad Central, Fatherhood Matters in the Early Years will focus on supporting and engaging fathers with relevant and effective services, programs, and resources. Their goal is to help provide fathers with the knowledge and support needed around the healthy development of children.

Highlights:

  • Dr. Stuart Shanker - Self-Regulation and Fathers

  • Dr. Cindy-Lee Dennis - Emerging Fatherhood Research: father involvement and co-parenting

  • Dr. Andrew Howlett - The Mental Health of Fathers: it matters to everyone

  • The Dads’ Panel

  • Evening Networking Social hosted by The Movember Foundation

  • Reflections from the Canadian Father Involvement Survey

  • Knowledge Sharing Forum

  • Ottawa’s “Flash Your Badge” program

  • 2020 Vision for Father Involvement in Canada

Venue: The Delta Ottawa City Centre ($119 per night)

For more information and to register, visit Dad Central. Follow the Dad Central blog for updates.

CAPHC Webinar: Young Carers Amplified

Wednesday, October 3, 2018 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT 

A young carer is a child, youth or young adult that provides physical, medical, emotional or other supports to a parent, grandparent or sibling. It is estimated that 17% of Ontario’s 3.3 million family caregivers are young carers between the ages of 15 and 24. There are approximately 10 programs across Ontario that support these young carers.

In this CAPHC Presents! webinar you’ll hear firsthand from an Ontario young carer, learn more from The Change Foundation about this invisible population of family caregivers and hear from Holland Bloorview’s Sibling Program – A young carer support program focused on supporting young carers of siblings who have developmental and physical disabilities, rare genetic conditions, and/or medical complexities or dual-diagnoses.

For more information and to register, visit CAPHC.

CHILD Study: Breastfeeding may protect against obesity in early life

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CHILD Study research has found that infants who are breastfed have a reduced risk of being overweight in the first year of life—and that the protective association is stronger with longer and more exclusive breastfeeding.

“We found that the risk of overweight at 12 months of age was over three times higher among infants who were not breastfed compared with infants who were exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life,” said study lead Dr. Meghan Azad.

The study, published in the October 2018 isue of Pediatrics, looked at both body mass index (BMI) and the rate of infant weight gain—an important predictor of future obesity and cardiovascular health. It used data from more than 2,500 infants and their mothers participating in the CHILD Study.

The study also found that the method of feeding breastmilk matters, and it uniquely distinguished between partial breastfeeding mixed with formula versus partial breastfeeding mixed with foods.

Read the AllerGen press release