Canada’s obesogenic environment is host to the advironment, which bombards children with advertisements for soft drinks, fast foods, confectionary, cereals and savory snacks (‘the Big 5’). Television is the primary media outlet used by advertisers to promote the Big 5 to the widest range of Canadian children. A recent trend in commercial marketing is to portray the Big 5 products in a physical activity, exercise or sport context, described here as Healthy Active Living Marketing. This study was designed to explore the relationships between Healthy Active Living Marketing and children and caregivers’ eating and physical activity perceptions and behaviors. Four caregiver-child dyads from communities of York Region, Ontario consented to collect family food receipts, complete commercial activity worksheets, one-on-one interviews and a caregiver questionnaire. A combination of descriptive statistics, content analyses and thematic analyses revealed caregiver control plays a significant role in the appropriateness of eating perceptions and behaviours.

Background: Obesity affects over 1 billion individuals across the world. In Canada, nearly 1 in 7 children and adolescents are obese. The risk of obesity is heightened for newcomer children due to their adoption of the Western diet and a sedentary lifestyle. While healthcare providers (HCPs) are the first point of contact upon health concerns, little is known about how HCPs approach HAL communication with newcomer families, with the goal of preventing childhood obesity. Objectives: This study aims to understand HCPs’ experiences with newcomer families relating to (1) HAL communication, (2) HAL promotion strategies, and (3) challenges with HAL promotion. Methods: 12 HCPs currently practicing in Hamilton and experienced in working with newcomer families completed 30–60-minute semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes relating to HAL communication approaches, HAL promotion strategies, and challenges with promoting HAL among newcomer families. Results: Three themes emerged for HAL communication: 1) reactive approach, 2) patient-centered and culturally sensitive communication, 3) holistic health discussions. Four themes emerged for HAL promotion strategies: 1) tailored resource recommendations, 2) facilitating connections among newcomers, 3) family-centered approach, 4) referrals to additional support. Five themes emerged for challenges with HAL promotion: 1) time constraints, 2) difficulty to obtain buy-in, 3) limited resources awareness & availability, 4) navigating sensitivity and empathy, 5) ambiguity in role responsibilities. Conclusion: HCPs emphasized the influence of time limitations, limited resource awareness, and newcomer families’ competing priorities on limiting their ability to proactively promote HAL. Analyzing the data through the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) framework revealed the various intersecting determinants of health that make HAL promotion an intricate task. With HCPs expressing reservations about their efficacy in promoting HAL proactively, investigation into collaborative approaches for proactive HAL promotion should be explored. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Obesity affects over 1 billion individuals across the world. In Canada, nearly 1 in 7 children and adolescents are obese. The risk of obesity is heightened for newcomer children due to their adoption of the Western diet and a sedentary lifestyle. While healthcare providers (HCPs) are the first point of contact upon health concerns, little is known about how HCPs communicate and promote the importance of healthy eating and daily physical activity to newcomer families, with the goal of preventing childhood obesity. Using a qualitative thematic analysis approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 HCPs. Their responses revealed that HCPs commonly only discuss health behaviours in response to evident weight concerns, tailor their recommendations to address newcomers’ circumstances, and are hindered by time constraints to discuss health behaviours. Acknowledging the limitations of their role capacity, HCPs advocated for collaborative approaches to proactively promote healthy active living to newcomer children.