EduTOX Video Challenge winner Asha Mior, 14
EduTOX winner Asha Mior shares her adventures at the 2016 World’s Largest Sandbox
The day that I found out that I won the EduTOX Video Challenge, I screamed. A $1400 scholarship and a trip to Ottawa? What an opportunity!
In early June, my family and I travelled to Ottawa to attend the World’s Largest Sandbox Event! The event, which takes place on Sparks Street in downtown Ottawa, allows parliamentarians, non-profit organizations, and local kids to come together to raise awareness of the health of Canadian children.
Engaging Youth in Conversations about Toxic Chemicals through the EduTOX Video Challenge
While the use of chemical substances can improve our standard of living, many can cause unintended health effects. Chemical substances that we encounter in day-to-day life can be determined hazardous based on factors including toxicity – the potential of a chemical to be harmful – and the route and duration of exposure. Studies have shown that one’s exposure to chemical substances can begin as early as the embryo and fetus development phase, through the blood vessels of the placenta in the womb. Hazardous chemicals like mercury, lead, BPA, asbestos, phthalates and many others can be inhaled, ingested, or even absorbed through the skin and pose a great risk to human health. As the use of chemical substances and additives increases with each generation, so too does the risk to all children and youth. So how do we take action and inform youth about the impacts of these potential toxins?
By making them a part of the solution of course!
Sabrina Shannon Memorial Award ($1000 post-secondary)
From Food Allergy Canada:
June 10th is the deadline to apply for the seventh annual Sabrina Shannon Memorial Award.
This award is dedicated to Sabrina Shannon, an inspiring teenager who suffered a fatal anaphylactic reaction in 2003. During her life, Sabrina helped to raise awareness about food allergy by creating a first-person radio documentary, “A Nutty Tale,” which aired on CBC Radio in 2001. Since her passing, Sabrina’s parents and other members of the allergy community have kept Sabrina’s spirit alive by advocating for allergy-aware school environments. In 2005, Sabrina’s Law was passed in Ontario, resulting in landmark legislation that has influenced school anaphylaxis policies across Canada.
Announcing the winners of the EduTOX Video Challenge!
EduTOX Video Challenge Winners
After careful deliberation, our expert and celebrity judges have selected the winners for the first EduTOX Video Challenge. Congratulations to this year’s winners!
Anaphylaxis in the Community: What Parents and Others Need to Know
From Food Allergy Canada: We are pleased to announce our latest online learning tool, Anaphylaxis in the Community: What Parents and Others Need to Know available at allergyaware.ca. Developed with Leap Learning Technologies Inc. and in collaboration with the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, this free, medically-reviewed resource is designed for people with […]
Introducing the EduTox Video Challenge!
The Sandbox Project’s EduTOX Video Challenge officially opens on January 21, 2016
At last November’s Prenatal Environmental Health Education (PEHE) Forum, a core recommendation was that the focus of Environmental Health education efforts must go beyond pregnant women and include students and young adults to raise awareness of issues that could have significant impacts on the health of their future children and their own health over the long term. To engage youth on health-environment linkages, a national video competition was proposed whereby participants would be invited to produce short videos communicating key Environmental Health messages.In partnership with the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE), the David Suzuki Foundation, the Lung Association of New Brunswick, Pollution Probe, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, the University of Ottawa, Yellow Pages Canada and the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health, we are proud to introduce the EduTox Video Challenge.
Clearing the Air Summit: We can make tomorrow a brighter day
the YCRH’s Stephanie Bertolo shares her 2015 Summit experience
On May 5th, World Asthma Day, I attended the second annual Clearing the Air Summit hosted by the Asthma Society of Canada. The full day event, attended by leaders of government, industry, academic and non-profit organizations was most certainly an enlightening experience, providing a unique perspective on the impacts of climate change. Commonly, when people give presentations on global warming, there is a strong fixation on the effects on the natural environments: increased natural disasters, decreased biodiversity, rising temperatures, and the likes. Though at the Clearing the Air Summit, they focused instead on exposing the harsh realities of global warming’s impact on human health.
Clearing the Air: the 2nd Annual Conference of the Asthma Society of Canada
The Asthma Society of Canada announces its 2nd Annual Clearing the Air Summit
The Asthma Society of Canada is holding its Second Annual Conference on May 4th and 5th, 2015 at the Courtyard by Marriot Downtown in Toronto. By bringing together leaders from government, industry, academia, and the not-for-profit sectors, they will examine asthma and respiratory allergies in a time of climate change and issue a call-to-action for decision makers.
Clearing the Air is an opportunity to demonstrate that health and the environment are inextricably linked. Asthma and allergies, including both the social and economic impacts of climate change on respiratory health demand more attention from policy makers and the public.
The Asthma Society of Canada is pleased to announce the keynote speaker will be the Honourable Glen Murray, Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change.
CHILD Study: 3,500 Children Could Change Canada’s Approach to Fighting Chronic Diseases
Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study examines how a child’s environment during pregnancy, and in the first few years of life, can interact with genetics to affect the risk of developing allergies, asthma, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases
If just 24 children can help scientists discover that Caesarean sections and formula feeding may deprive babies of the protective gut bacteria needed for lifelong health, just imagine what will be discovered by collecting a wide range of health information from some 3,500 children. Scientists believe it will influence everything from health policy and building codes to parenting decisions for decades to come.
Those 3,500 children, along with their mothers and about 2,600 fathers from Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and several communities in Manitoba, are on the front-lines of the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study, a national birth cohort study funded in part by the Allergy, Genes and Environment Network (AllerGen).
The Sandbox Project calls for support for the CHILD Study
The Sandbox Project’s Environment Working Group writes a letter to encourage the continuation of the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study
Dear Honorable Minister,
On behalf of The Sandbox Project, we wish to draw your attention to, and encourage your support for, the continuation of the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study, an internationally recognized, longitudinal population-based birth cohort investigating the origins of chronic childhood illnesses. The CHILD Study represents a key tool for understanding the impact of the environment on children’s health, and the epidemic of asthma, allergy and many other chronic diseases of later childhood and adulthood in Canada. The mission of The Sandbox Project is to make Canada the healthiest place on earth for kids to grow up – what can be learned from the CHILD Study is critical if we hope to succeed.
