Public health nutrition

Public Health Dietitians can help you support your child’s growth and development, build a positive relationship with food and find ways to access nourishing food.

You can get support to:

• Help your child grow and develop.
• Build confidence in choosing and preparing nourishing foods.
• Develop a positive relationship with food and eating.
• Find resources to help you access nourishing food.
• Support your family’s physical and mental health.

These services are free.

Contact a Public Health Dietitian to get started. See contacts below.

Who do Public Health Dietitians work with?

• Community agencies (family/child/youth-serving agencies)
• Community groups (parent and youth groups)
• Community networks (health networks, early years tables)
• Food security hubs
• Governments
• Health professionals (Island Health & non-Island Health)
• Post-secondary institutions (colleges, universities)
• Schools & school districts.

How can Public Health Dietitians support you?

• Support around food/nutrition programming (activities, curriculum development, evaluation)
• Provide advocacy and knowledge translation around food/nutrition
• Be a guest speaker for groups (early years nutrition, food & mood, food & diet myth vs fact)
• Participate in community events
• Support grant applications
• Promote healthy public policy & environments around food & nutrition
• Provide staff/volunteer professional development & training.

Need more help?

Get dietitian access or a referral

• Island Health Outpatient Dietitian Services
• Island Health Indigenous Health Dietitians
• Options for Accessing a Dietitian

Get nutrition guidance for babies and young children

• Baby's First Foods HealthLinkBC
• Baby's Best Chance: Pregnancy & Baby Care
• Fluid Facts for Babies and Young Children
• Healthy Eating for Babies Age 6 to 12 Months
• HealthLinkBC Infant, Child & Youth Nutrition
• Iron for Babies and Toddlers
• Picky Eating Tips to Support Eaters in Training
• Toddler's First Steps: Guide to Parenting Your 6 to 36 Month Old Child
• The big squeeze on baby food pouches
• Tips for babies with reflux
• Constipation in Babies and Young Children

Get nutrition guidance for children 5-18 years old

• Canada’s Food Guide
• Nurturing Confidence: Food, Eating & Bodies in School
• Picky Eating Tips to Support Eaters in Training
• HealthLinkBC Infant, Child & Youth Nutrition

Learn more about body image

• Embody Body Image Resources
• Media Smarts Body Image Resources
• Nurturing Confidence: Food, Eating & Bodies

Get support with eating disorders

• Island Health Eating Disorder Services
• Embody BC Eating Disorders Prevention & Awareness
• National Eating Disorder Information Centre

Learn more about feeding relationships and eating together

• Adult Provides, Child Decides
• Eating Together, Eating Better
• Ellyn Satter Eat & Feed with Joy
• Mealtime Conversation Cards for Children & Youth
• Mealtime Conversation Cards for Toddlers & Preschoolers
• Nurturing Confidence: Food, Eating & Bodies in Schools
• Picky Eating Tips to Support Eaters in Training

Get support with food allergies

• Allergy Aware Resources for Schools
• Anaphylaxis HealthLinkBC
• Food Allergy Canada
• Reducing Risk of Food Allergy in Your Baby

Find info on food safety

• Food Safety BCCDC
• Food, Water & Beverage Safety HealthLinkBC

Find info on food security

Public Health Dietitians work in close partnership with the Island Health Food Security Hubs. Food Security Hubs are a partnership between Island Health and community agencies that are leading food security efforts within their regions. These organizations collaborate with communities to address food security through a wide range of projects, programs and advocacy. Island Health recognizes the importance of developing community partnerships for the purposes of building community food security on Vancouver Island. The Vancouver Island Food Charter holds a vision of a just and sustainable food system in the Island region, which is rooted in healthy communities, where no one is hungry and everyone has access to nutritious and culturally acceptable food. 

The 8 funded Food Security Hubs are:

• Alberni Valley Food Security Society
• Cowichan Green Community Food Hub
• Eat West Coast (Clayoquot/Tofino Food Hub)
• Strathcona Food Network (Greenways Land Trust)
• Lush Valley Food Action Society (Comox Valley)
• Nanaimo Foodshare Food Hub
• The Nourish North Network - A'ek̓aḵilax̱a̱n's Gukwalut
• Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable (CRFAIR)

Island Health provides funding to these agencies to enhance their capacity to:

• Provide leadership and support
• Develop communication networks
• Facilitate dialogue with neighbouring communities and municipal /regional governments, and;
• Collaborate with Island Health and other Hubs across the Health Region. 

To learn more about the Food Security Hubs, visit Food Security - Island Health.

Additional Resources:

• BC211 Resource Finder
• BC & Federal Nutrition Benefits HealthLinkBC
• Food Banks BC

Get meal and snack ideas

• Canada’s Food Guide Recipes
• Cookspiration Recipes Dietitians of Canada
• Jump Start Your Day with Breakfast
• Lunches to Go HealthLinkBC
• Meal & Snack Ideas for Your 1 to 3 Year Old Child HealthLinkBC
• Quick & Easy Lunch Ideas UnlockFood

Get Pregnancy/Perinatal nutrition support

• Eating & Well-Being During Pregnancy
• Baby's Best Chance: Pregnancy & Baby Care
• Food Safety during Pregnancy Health Canada
• Your Health During Pregnancy HealthLinkBC
• Pregnancy & folic acid: Preventing neural tube defects HealthLinkBC
• The Pregnancy Hub Infant Feeding Courses & More 

Learn more about vitamins and minerals

• Calcium and Your Health HealthLinkBC
• Getting Enough Folic Acid (Folate) HealthLinkBC
• Folic Acid & Pregnancy: Preventing Neural Tube Defects
• Iron and Your Health HealthLinkBC
• Iron in Foods HealthLinkBC
• Vitamin B12 Nutrition Check HealthLinkBC
• Vitamin D and Your Health HealthLinkBC
• Vitamin D and You

More reliable resources

• Canada’s Food Guide
• HealthLinkBC 8-1-1 Dietitian & Other Services  
• HealthLinkBC Food & Nutrition
• Health Canada Food & Nutrition
• First Nations Health Authority
• UnlockFood Dietitians of Canada

Learn more about Healthy Schools
Learn more about Community Engagement
Learn more about Food Security