Lessons learned from a collaborative community-university research model to promote children's health

The health status of school-aged children plays a major role in determining the successful development of a nation.  The health behavours of children impact the subsequent development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity, with detrimental consequences to children, their families and society. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the health promoting school as "a school that is constantly strengthening its capacity as a healthy setting for living, learning and working.” The project, an out-growth of a partnership between the University of Saskatchewan, the University of The West Indies, and Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Education and the Caribbean Health Research Council, sought to implement initiatives to encourage healthy outcomes for children, specifically to combat childhood obesity which is a growing problem for developing and developed countries alike. Rates of obesity are increasing in the Caribbean region where the trend away from infectious diseases and malnutrition has led to nutrition-related non communicable diseases and obesity as it adopts the high-sugar, high-fat diet of the North American population. Photovoice and creative collaborative engagement techniques were used to stimulate dialogue among stakeholders including students, increase community participation, and lay the ground work for equal partnership.  The use of these approaches was crucial since partnership is needed to champion change within children, their families and communities. This creative collaborative approach was effective in aiding the development of a national school health policy and the design, implementation and evaluation of initiatives to integrate the Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) policy in Trinidad and Tobago’s schools.  Highlights include funding, curriculum integration, teacher training, parent involvement and outcome assessments. Creative collaborative approaches, with inter-sectoral stakeholder support, are likely to increase the effectiveness of policies and programs designed to promote healthy outcomes for school-aged children

Funding support from Social Science and Humanities Research Council, Canada, and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada