Mitigating child health inequalities through equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility school practices in Canada
Bibliographic Data
Unhealthy lifestyle behaviours and mental disorders disproportionately affect children living in deprived neighbourhoods. In Canada, schools are encouraged to adopt equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA) practices to tackle these inequalities. We examined whether integrating EDIA school practices into curriculum and programming mitigates the impact of neighbourhood deprivation on children’s lifestyle behaviours and mental health. In 2023/2024, we surveyed 1970 students in grades 4–6 (aged 9–12) from 28 elementary schools in Alberta. Students self-reported diet, physical activity, screen time, and mental health and wellbeing. School principals reported on the extent (full vs. partial) of integrating EDIA school practices into curriculum and programming. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (i.e. residential instability, economic dependency, ethno-cultural composition, situational vulnerability) was used to capture neighbourhood deprivation. Over half (54%) of schools had fully integrated EDIA school practices into curriculum and programming, and were located primarily in areas with greater residential instability (50%), ethno-cultural diversity (57%), economic dependency and situational vulnerability (46%). In highly deprived neighbourhoods, students attending schools with fully integrated EDIA practices were less likely to have poor diets (0.9 vs. 1.6) and consume excessive intake of free sugar (1.3 vs. 1.8) and saturated fat (0.6 vs. 0.8). EDIA school practices did not appear to moderate the relationship of neighbourhood deprivation with physical activity, screen time, or mental health and wellbeing. These findings suggest that integrating EDIA school practices into curriculum and programming may help buffer some adverse effects of neighbourhood deprivation on children’s health and diets in particular.
Curriculum · Developmental psychology · Environmental health · Equity (law) · Inclusion (mineral) · Mental health · Neighbourhood (mathematics) · Pedagogy · Political science · Population · Psychiatry · Socioeconomic status · Vulnerability (computing) · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet · Psychology · Social Psychology · Gerontology
Society and the Adolescent Self-Image
Nutritional Epidemiology
From "best practice" to "next practice"
Self Description Questionnaire Iii
Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth
Immigrant child health in Canada
Health‐Promoting School Culture
School leadership that supports health promotion in schools
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on inequalities in lifestyle behaviours and mental health and wellbeing of elementary school children in northern Canada
The Importance of School Leaders’ Attitudes and Health Literacy to the Implementation of a Health-Promoting Schools Approach
Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation characteristics in child (0–18 years) health studies
The influence of the neighborhood physical environment on early child health and development
A review of neighborhood effects and early child development
Neighbourhood deprivation effects on young people's mental health and well-being
Psychometric Validation of the Revised Family Affluence Scale
Neighborhood determinants of self-efficacy, physical activity, and body weights among Canadian children
Core Implementation Components
Long-term association between neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation in early childhood and perceived stress in early adulthood
Deprivation matters
Promoting Social Inclusion in Schools
Physical Activity and Nutrition Among Youth in Rural, Suburban and Urban Neighbourhood Types
Teaching for Student and Societal Wellbeing in HPE
Do school-based physical activity interventions increase or reduce inequalities in health
Deprivation
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |