Financial barriers often restrict sport participation among children from low-income families. Schools are thought to offer equitable access to programming, including school sport participation. However, pay-to-play school sport models can inhibit participation among students from low-income households. Recognizing the potential benefits of school…

Compared to unpaid leave, paid family leave may better help working parents balance the competing needs of job and family early in a child's life, among other advantages. Yet the United States remains one of only two countries in the world without a statutory national paid maternity leave policy, and one of the only high-income countries that…

It has been argued that sport is a way for youth to develop psycho-social skills that lead to holistic development. However, participation itself in sport does not lead to this growth; mechanisms for growth must be intentional, often conducted by coaches. Thus, the purpose of this descriptive study was to understand the integration of positive…

In 2000, the Government of Manitoba initiated an inter-sectoral policy strategy referred to as Healthy Child Manitoba. This article reports on a research project that studied the success and challenges of this horizontal policy strategy. The research suggests that while this policy approach--which places education within the broader context of a…

The importance of daily physical activity (DPA) for children and youth is highlighted in Canada's Active Healthy Kids annual report on fitness. Since 2005, this report has revealed that elementary-aged students are spending most of their waking hours stationary, in front of screens (phones, televisions, computers). To counteract this trend, the…

We assessed the availability and accessibility of early childhood development (ECD) services to ethno-cultural communities in the Tri-Cities region of British Columbia. Primary participants were recent immigrant and refugee parents from three ethnic communities: Chinese (both Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking) and Korean-, and Farsi-speaking groups…

This 2012 research report, based on a national online survey conducted by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) in collaboration with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, gathers the responses of over 3,900 teachers who voluntarily took part in the survey. Teachers were asked to identify the potential barriers to the provision of mental…

This review examined 117 research articles using a policy framework generated in previous research. Findings include: students are experiencing both food insecurity and an "epidemic of obesity"; policymakers remain focused on achievement; provinces address nutrition in isolation; poverty is a significant contributor; restriction of food…