Healthy Societies
A 'Healthy Society' relies on policies, standards, and interventions to help people have a healthy diet. This requires many organizations and levels of government working together to:
- ensure people have access to safe, healthy, and affordable food
- create institutional standards for healthy eating (ie. in schools, daycares, and hospitals)
- limit marketing of foods high in salt, sugar, and fat to children
- equip people with food knowledge and skills at all ages
In May 2021, PEI MLAs passed the first bill in Canada aimed at eliminating food insecurity in children and reducing the rate of food insecurity to half, by 2025.
- Food Security
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Food security or being food secure has many different definitions. Loosely, it can be described as having enough food to meet nutrition needs, consistently.
Being food insecure can impact mental, physical, and social health. This can result in a huge cost to individuals health and wellbeing as well as to our healthcare systems. Children who live in a home that is food insecure are more likely to have educational, behavioral, and emotional difficulties than children who live in food secure homes. There can also be different levels of food insecurity.
A healthy society can help people to have food secure homes by creating policies, standards, and interventions that enable people to have a healthy diet.
Basic guaranteed incomes, poverty reduction strategies, school food programs, and access to affordable housing are some ways that can help reduce food insecurity among Islanders and society as a whole.
- Provincial Policies, Programs, & Initiatives
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Local organizations and government are working together to enhance access to safe, nutritious, and affordable food. Here are some of the policies, programs, and initiatives currently in place:
Poverty Reduction Strategy
Healthy Living Guidelines for Early Learning and Child Care
French Schools Nutrition Policy
Public Schools Branch ‘Nutrition in Schools’ policy - Health Canada's Healthy Eating Strategy
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Health Canada's Healthy Eating Strategy is aimed at enhancing food environments in Canada, making is easier for consumers to opt for healthier food choices. This is achieved through the improvement of healthy eating information, improving the nutrition quality of foods, and protecting vulnerable populations.
