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Policy Practice Research

Health, Wellbeing & Development

Thank you to Louise Zimanyi and Olga Rossovska, Professors of Early Childhood Education at  Humber College, for providing this post. Two 150-year old crack willow trees surrounded by 250 acres of Carolinian forest, one of Canada’s most biologically diverse ecosystems, are the heart of The Willows forest nature program for children at the Child Development Centre...

16 July, 2020

Press Release: Summer homework – get kids outside and recalibrate healthy lifestyles A national survey commissioned by ParticipACTION shows evidence of collateral damage to the lifestyles of Canadian children and youth consequent to public health restrictions imposed to help contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Restricted access to playgrounds, schools, childcare, playdates, and instructions to “stay home” have...

08 July, 2020

In a recent story for the newly-launched New Brunswick tourism website, Dr. Willi Broeren, a family doctor in Fredericton and an outdoors enthusiast, put together a compelling list of 8 benefits of spending time in nature, pulling from research in psychology, epidemiology, neuroscience, and medicine. The list includes: Spending time in nature makes us happy Access...

06 July, 2020

In a recent article for The Conversation, Negin Riazi, PhD Candidate, and Guy Faulkner, Professor, in the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia, discuss the importance of independent mobility for children's mental and physical health and development, the impact of COVID-19 on children's ability to get outdoors freely, as well as the...

30 June, 2020

In a recent piece published in The Conversation, Dr. Lauren McNamara, Research Scientist with the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University, and Dr. Pasi Sahlberg, Professor of Education Policy at the University of New South Wales discuss the importance of preserving recess when schools reopen after the COVID-19 shut downs. Their piece in The Conversation follows from...

02 June, 2020

On May 4, 2020, journalist Geoff Mcmaster published an article entitled: 'Why COVID-19 loneliness can be especially hard on teens' for the University of Alberta Folio journal. In the article Mcmaster highlights the observation that social isolation due to COVID-19 restrictions may be significantly impacting the health of teens, adding to a disturbing trend Mcmaster calls...

04 May, 2020

On May 2, 2020, health and science writer Wendy Glauser wrote an article for Maclean's Magazine, entitled: 'It's time to stop giving the message that kids can't play outside'. In the article, Glauser identifies the way in which public health guidelines during the first few months of the pandemic have ignored children's outdoor play by, for...

02 May, 2020

Thank you to Dr. Hugues Sampasa-Kanyinga (MD, PhD Candidate, Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa) for providing this post.   The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (aged 5–17 years) recommend at least 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity,  no more than 2 hours of daily recreational screen time, and 9-11 hours of...

29 April, 2020

Many have struggled to access the outdoors, parks, and nature as a result of physical distancing regulations instituted across the country in reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak. Though most Provincial and National parks have reopened, and reopened again in the third wave, services are limited. At the municipal level, restrictions are being lifted on parks...

27 April, 2020
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