Help Develop a Healthy Body Score Card For Kids



sharma-obesity-tickboxToday’s post is addressed to all Canadian physicians, dietitians, nurses, and psychologists, who work with children.

The request comes from Drs. Amy McPherson and Ian Patton from the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, who are hoping to develop a new health screening tool for children called “The Healthy Body Scorecard”.

As the researchers point out,

“There is a growing concern in the health care professional and health research community that using Body Mass Index (BMI) alone for assessing the health of children has considerable limitations. For instance, it does not take into account lifestyle behaviours such as physical activity and sedentary behaviours. For children with disabilities, BMI can be even more inappropriate due to differing body compositions. We aim to develop an easy to use and comprehensive health screening tool that could potentially be used in place of BMI alone, in order to effectively and efficiently assess the health needs of children aged 2-18.”

Canadian health professionals, who regularly work with kids are invited to complete a brief, anonymous online survey providing input on the inclusion of different items. The short questionnaire will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. You will be asked about your professional background, clinical experience, and province of practice.

Entrants will be eligible to enter a draw for a $150 gift card. At the end of the survey you will also be asked if you wish to hear about participating in focus group session at a later date, this is entirely optional.

Eligible readers can take the survey now by clicking here.

Thank you for supporting this important piece of research.

AMS
Edmonton, AB