OPHA develops and promotes nutrition programs and resources to support healthy eating.

Nutrition Resource Centre (NRC)

OPHA established the Nutrition Resource Centre (NRC) in 1999 to increase the level of provincial support for nutrition promotion programming, develop resources, disseminate resources and support nutrition professionals working in public health. Since then the Nutrition Resource Centre has committed itself to strengthening the capacity of nutrition practitioners in communities across Ontario and coordinates the delivery of quality nutrition programming in a health promotion context.

Specifically, the NRC works towards fulfilling the strategic directions of the Healthy Weights Healthy Lives report (2004) and supports local delivery of programs outlined in the Ontario Public Health Standards.

NRC in Action…

The Nutrition Resource Centre is currently working on several initiatives on the provincial level to improve the health of Ontarians.
  • NRC coordinates four provincial programs — Colour It Up…Go for more vegetables and fruit; Community Food Advisors; Eat Smart!; and NutriSTEP® — which are all instrumental for delivery of the Ontario Public Health Standards.
  • NRC develops and distributes award-winning resources for caregivers of children to improve nutrition and physical activity levels.
  • NRC networks and collaborates with community nutrition professionals across Ontario to enhance local nutrition programming.
  • NRC provides knowledge transfer by making up-to-date information on public health nutrition activities and research available to nutrition promotion practitioners in Ontario.
  • NutriStep® has now been printed for the first time for all Ontario parents, and will be available shortly from local health units. This tool will allow Ontario parents to assess eating habits and identify nutrition problems, such as growth and weight issues, in their preschooler.

Impact

  • The Community Food Advisor program runs in 16 communities across Ontario. In 2008, 380 CFAs provided over 17,000 hours of volunteer service including 1,300 presentations on healthy eating and food safety to over 53,000 people.
  • Fuel Up For Fun was the national winner of the Speaking of Food and Healthy Living Award for excellence in consumer communication from Dietitians of Canada and Kraft Canada in 2009; Busy Bodies was chosen as the regional winner in 2008
  • Busy Bodies provides creative food and play ideas for parents to use with their preschooler.
  • Eat Right Be Active resources assist families, caregivers and professionals to support healthy eating and physical activity in the early years.
  • NRC provides knowledge exchange to 1,400 nutrition promotion practitioners in Ontario through their [contact-nrc] listserv.
  • Thirty-one (86%) of Ontario health units implement the Eat Smart! cafeteria program. In 2007, 74% provided the workplace cafeteria program and 74% provided the school cafeteria program. Award-winning cafeterias make changes to their menus, or send staff for food handler training to qualify for the Eat Smart! Award of Excellence, making these cafeterias safer and healthier places for Ontarians to eat.
  • NRC's French Language Advisory Network has developed a Lexicon of Words and Phrases for Use in Nutrition and Health Promotion. The lexicon is a tool to support nutrition and health promotion professionals in Ontario with the use of consistent and current French terminology when writing, designing, interpreting and translating nutrition messages.