School-based nutrition interventions for Indigenous children in Canada: a scoping review

Abstract

Background: Indigenous children in Canada (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) are disproportionately affected by nutrition-related chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Comprehensive school-based nutrition interventions offer a promising strategy for improving children's access to healthy foods and sustaining positive eating behaviors. However, little is known about school-based nutrition interventions for Indigenous children. The objectives of this scoping review were to identify school-based nutrition interventions for Indigenous children in Canada and describe their components. Methods: The scoping review consisted of searches in seven peer-reviewed databases and a general web search for grey literature. Eligibility criteria were applied by two reviewers, and data were extracted and charted by one reviewer using components of the comprehensive school health approach (social and physical environment, teaching and learning, policy, partnerships and services) and additional components with relevance to Indigenous interventions (cultural content, Indigenous control and ownership, funding source, evaluation). Numerical and descriptive summaries were used to present findings. Results: Thirty-four unique interventions met the inclusion criteria. The majority (97%) of interventions targeted the social and physical environment, most often by offering food programs. Over half of interventions also incorporated teaching and learning (56%) and partnerships and services (59%), but fewer included a policy component (38%). Many interventions included a cultural component (56%) and most (62%) were owned and controlled by Indigenous communities (62%). Finally, over half of interventions disclosed their source(s) of funding (59%), but less than half (41%) included an evaluation component. Conclusions: The review suggests that school-based interventions for Indigenous children can be more comprehensive by incorporating culturally relevant nutrition education and professional development opportunities for teachers, written school nutrition policies, and activities that actively engage families and community members. The continued focus on Indigenous control and ownership and incorporation of content specific to individual communities may enhance cultural relevancy and sustainability of interventions. Furthermore, there is a need to increase intervention evaluation and the sharing of resources related to funding. These recommendations may be used by communities, as well as by researchers and professionals working with communities, in developing comprehensive school-based nutrition interventions to improve the eating behaviors of Indigenous children.

Inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability of the Performance and Fitness (PERF-FIT) test battery for children: a test for motor skill related fitness

“…After the first round of collecting validity data in Brazil [ 22 ], it was found that most children obtained a maximum score on the static balance series and it was decided to increase the total number of seconds of the static balance series from 40 to 60 s for future studies. At this moment the data collection for SA had already started with the 40 s protocol.…”

“…For a tool that intends to measure motor skill-related physical fitness, integrating these aspects may be more appropriate than testing motor coordination and power aspects in isolation. After having established good content and structural validity of the PERF-FIT [ 22 , 23 ], the present study examined how consistent scores on the PERF-FIT are under different circumstances and different populations. The purpose of the first part of the study was to check if the item instructions for scoring, would lead to comparable results between two raters, when assessing the performance of the child at the same time (inter-rater reliability).…”

Learning circles: an adaptive strategy to support food sovereignty among First Nations communities in Canada

“…Targeting the diets of children/youth via school programmes is a popular approach for enhancing health in the Indigenous communities. Consistent with the need for such programmes to be culturally relevant (Gillies et al 2020), the preferences reported by the students surveyed in HG and MK certainly indicate that traditional foods would be welcome as part of school food programmes. In addition, traditional food skills activities are enjoyed by students and add another layer of richness to school-based programming.…”

A Socio-Cognitive Review of Healthy Eating Programs in Australian Indigenous Communities

“…There were many programs and interventions ( n = 184) found in the search to understand the determinants of healthy and unhealthy eating practices in Indigenous communities globally [ 5 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 ] in recent years. The results of this study highlight the lack of studies in Australian Indigenous communities.…”