Safe Kids Week is happening May 30 to June 5!

Parachute Safe Kids Week (SKW) is Parachute Canada’s annual campaign to raise public awareness of child safety issues in Canada, encouraging community involvement as part of the solution. This year, Parachute Safe Kids Week takes place May 30 to June 5, 2021. The topic of 2021’s Safe Kids Week digital campaign is outdoor play, encouraging children to #PlaySafeOutdoors and engage in active, unstructured and exciting play, daily.

With fewer than five per cent of children and fewer than one per cent of youth meeting movement behaviour guidelines during COVID-19 restrictions, outdoor play is more important than ever for kids. Parachute wants kids to #PlaySafeOutdoors to encourage mental, physical, social and emotional well-being. Parachute is encouraging parents to support their kids to #PlaySafeOutdoors, engaging in active, unstructured and outdoor play, daily.

Everyone is encouraged join in the conversation on social media using the hashtags #PlaySafeOutdoors and #SKW2021 and don’t forget to tag @ParachuteCanada so they can share your posts!

IHDCYH Youth advisory council applications are now open!

IHDCYH is looking for young Canadians between the ages of 12-25 to join their youth advisory council

The Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH)'s youth advisory council is a group of diverse young Canadians who are passionate about health and health research. The council brings the youth voice directly into conversations about priority development, policies and issues that impact Canadian communities from coast to coast to coast.

Share your voice with IHDCYH Scientific Director Dr. Christine Chambers to help guide decision-making for the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health.

• Apply by June 14

• Find answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Calling #CodePINK

Children First Canada and its partners - including The Sandbox Project and the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health - are uniting to raise the alarm about the current crisis facing children and youth across the country. COVID-19 school closures, the lack of access to sports and recreational programs, and social isolation have led to devasting effects on the health and well-being of kids.

 The numbers are staggering:

• Child suicide attempt admissions have doubled during the pandemic. (Children’s Healthcare Canada)

• 70% of kids report that the pandemic has harmed their mental health. (Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations)

• Child abuse rates have risen sharply, with a doubling of cases of infants presenting with fractures and head trauma. (CHEO)

 The kids are not alright. They deserve better.

Together with many partners, Children First Canada is declaring a #codePINK – a term used for pediatric emergencies. We’re calling for an urgent meeting of Canada’s First Ministers to coordinate an emergency response to support all 8 million children in Canada. This includes safely reopening schools, camps, parks and other recreational facilities as quickly as possible, scaling up virtual care programs, reducing backlogs for surgeries and rehabilitation, investing in new models of mental health programs to meet the urgent and rising demands, and planning now for a safe return to school in the fall.

 Will you join us?

The #CodePINK campaign is organized by Children First Canada, a national charitable organization that serves as a strong, effective and independent voice for all 8 million children in Canada. Children’s health organizations from across the country have joined this effort, including Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations, CHEO, Children’s Healthcare Canada, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, McMaster Children’s Hospital, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health. 

Learn more by visiting childrenfirstcanada.org/codepink.

Launch: Inspiring Healthy Futures

A VISION FOR CANADA’S CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES RELEASED TODAY

To mark International Day of Families, an unprecedented, collaborative vision for Canada’s future was released, creating a foundation for a better tomorrow for generations to come. Inspiring Healthy Futures: A Vision for Canada’s Children, Youth and Families is the result of a months’ long collaboration with thousands of youth, parents, service providers, youth-serving agencies, cross-sector experts and researchers, and others who knew we had to do better for our children.

“Inspiring Healthy Futures is a commitment that will be the foundation for leaders, organizations and governments to create a healthier, stronger future for and with children, youth and families in Canada,” said Emily Gruenwoldt, President and CEO, Children’s Healthcare Canada, and Executive Director, Pediatric Chairs of Canada, two of four founding partners of the initiative, which also includes the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH), and UNICEF Canada.

The urgency to identify shared priorities for action was pressing. According to UNICEF Report Card 16 (2020), Canada ranked 30th out of 38 wealthy countries in the health and well-being of its children – and that was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As the pandemic began to unfold, it became clear that children, youth and families were being affected in unpredictable and enduring ways. We needed to make that visible to decision-makers, and we needed to bring together as many voices as possible, in order to be impossible to ignore,” said Lisa Wolff, Director, Policy and Research, UNICEF Canada.

Inspiring Healthy Futures will take an unprecedented, collective approach to move the needle, forging a path for Canada to become a leader on the global stage and measurably improving the outcomes of children, youth and families.

“Bringing this vision to reality will create a stronger Canada for children, youth and families today and for generations to come,” said Christine Chambers, Scientific Director, IHDCYH. “Our collective agenda will support meaningful action in the months and years to come.”

“To know that a vision for my future, and the future of all young Canadians and their families has so much support gives me hope,” said Vivek Gill, member of IHDCYH’s Youth Advisory Council and part of the collaboration’s leadership team. “This pandemic has been really hard, and having a way forward means a lot to my generation.”

You can read the Inspiring Healthy Futures vision: here

The Sandbox Project and the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health are proud Champions of the Inspiring Healthy Futures initiative.

New International Recommendations for Managing Food Allergies in Childcare Centres & Schools

Source: AllerGen

An international panel of food allergy experts and stakeholders has published evidence-informed recommendations for managing food allergies in childcare centres and schools.

Published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the research offers guidance for personnel training, stock epinephrine, food restrictions, and other interventions aimed at managing the risk of allergic reactions to food.

“This study aims to provide the best available evidence to inform school policies and practices to protect allergic children from accidental exposure to food allergens," says Dr. Susan Waserman, an allergist and professor of medicine at McMaster University, who chaired the guidelines panel.

Panel members conducted a systematic literature review to collect data on the impact of select interventions on preventing and managing allergic reactions to food in childcare centres and schools. They also collected and synthesized data on the resource requirements, feasibility, and acceptability of these interventions across stakeholder groups.

The guidelines conditionally recommend that childcare centers and schools provide food allergy training for personnel; implement allergy action plans and protocols; and use epinephrine to treat anaphylaxis.

They further recommend that stock unassigned epinephrine autoinjectors (EAI) be made available to treat anaphylaxis on site, rather than requiring allergic students to provide their own EAIs.

“We also suggest that childcare centres and schools do not prohibit specific foods or establish allergen-restricted zones, such as a ‘nut-free classroom’ or ‘milk-free table’,” adds Dr. Waserman.

“However, it may be appropriate to implement allergen-restricted zones in situations where students lack the developmental capacity to self manage.”

The authors state that due to the lack of high-quality evidence available in the literature, the recommendations are rated “conditional” and policymakers are encouraged to adapt the guidance to fit their local circumstances.

The guidelines were developed with support from the Allergy, Genes and Environment (AllerGen) Network and have been endorsed by AllerGen’s partner the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (CSACI).

Read the AllerGen Press Release