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Ministry of Health

Children and Youth Health

Promoting the Health of Children and Youth in B.C.

Childhood through adolescence is a time when fundamental life changes occur - cognitive, emotional, physical changes, and changes in social relationships. These changes provide an opportunity to promote lifelong health behaviours.

When ongoing positive investments are made, children and youth are more likely to develop the competence and resilience necessary to participate fully in life, develop healthy lifestyle practices, and develop a sense of self-efficacy, hope and optimism. They are also more likely to grow into competent, participating adult members of society. It is estimated that every dollar invested in early years saves three to nine dollars in future spending on the health, criminal justice systems, as well as on social assistancei.

The Healthy Women, Children and Youth Secretariat works in partnership with other ministries, health authorities and not for profit organizations to develop and implement health promotion and prevention strategies and supports for families and communities, preventing vulnerability, promoting resiliency and advancing the health and well being of children and youth and their families.

Our Initiatives:

Healthy Choices in Pregnancy

The primary focus of Healthy Choices in Pregnancy is to encourage women to avoid alcohol in pregnancy, with a goal of improving health outcomes for pregnant women and their infants and decreasing the incidence the incidence of FASD in BC.

Parent Publications

Parent publications are produced and updated in order to provide evidence informed, practical information to expectant parents and families with babies and toddlers up to 3 years of age in BC. These publications include:

Baby's Best Chance: Parents' Handbook of Pregnancy and Baby Care (second revision 6th edition) (PDF 15M)

Baby's Best Chance: A Guide for Expectant Parents (DVD)

Toddler's First Steps: A Best Chance Guide to Parenting Your 6- to 36-Month-Old Child (revised 2nd edition 2009) (PDF 6.6M)

Child Health Passport English Version 2011 (PDF 459K)
Child Health Passport French Version 2011 (PDF 1.3M)

Every Sleep Counts! Safe Sleep Parent Resource

Brochure
Poster

The Best Chance website is filled with up-to-date and practical information, useful tools and resources for women, expectant parents, and families with babies and toddlers up to 3 years of age.

Early Childhood Screening Programs

The Ministry of Health is leading the way in implementing an integrated, cross-ministry strategy to provide vision, dental, and hearing screening for every children in B.C.

World Health Organization (WHO) Growth Standards

Provincial training materials have been developed for public health staff and primary care physicians to support the implementation of these new WHO Growth Standards. The materials include: guidelines on how to use, plot and interpret results on the new growth charts; how to provide appropriate guidance to parents; and when to refer children with growth concerns for further follow up.

Core Public Health Programs

The Ministry of Health is working with health authorities to develop and implement evidence based public health core programs that identify services including those for children and youth to be delivered through health regions to improve population and public health.

Healthy Early Childhood Development and Early Learning Initiatives

The Ministry of Health works in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Children and Family Development on initiatives for early learning and healthy early childhood development.

Student Health Initiatives

The Ministry of Health works in collaboration with the Ministry of Education to support healthy lifestyles among students including Daily Physical Activity, and development and evaluation of the Anaphylaxis Framework, click here for more information.

Interministerial Protocols

The Ministry of Health is working in collaboration with Ministries of Education, Children and Family Development, and the Public Safety and Solicitor General to develop protocols that identify the provision of support services for school aged children.

Child and Youth Health and Well-Being Indicators

The Ministry of Health is working in cooperation with the Canadian Institute for Health Information to develop a suite of indicators that can be used to track and monitor the health and well-being of children in British Columbia.

  1. Grunewald & Rolnick (2005), Achieving a High Return on Early Childhood Investment: Scholarships for Early Childhood Development. Prepared for "Building the Economic Case for Investments in Preschool," Washington, D.C., December 3, 2004.