Federal Nutrition Policy and Advocacy

The Heart & Stroke Foundation (Heart & Stroke, H & S) is a Canadian charitable organization that actively engages in advocacy, education, and funding, and has been dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke (HDS) for over 60 years. These diseases combined are the number one cause of premature death in Canada.1 Diet is one of the main determinants of HDS, with consistently poor nutrition over a number of years significantly increasing the likelihood of occurrence. Strategies for preventing HDS that include targeting younger populations have strong potential for being effective.2 H & S is a founding member of the Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition (SM2K), which aims to build awareness about the effects of food and beverage marketing to children in Canada.3 The practicum student will support the work of the coalition, including taking a lead in the coordination of the Youth M2K Coalition’s advocacy and engagement activities. The student will also support policy research and provincial nutrition priorities. Currently, no clear theory of change for organizing the public to engage in healthy public policy development and advocacy exists in Canada.

Faculty Supervisor:

Erin Pollock

Student:

Partner:

Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (ON)

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Other services (except public administration)

University:

University of Alberta

Program: