The Guelph Family Health Study is a bold research endeavour designed to tackle the pressing challenges of chronic diseases. It is a long-term study designed to follow families over many years. Through the Guelph Family Health Study we are testing a family-based, behaviour change intervention aimed at establishing healthful eating, activity, and sleep behaviours early in life. As part of the intervention, we provide families with supports to engage their children in food preparation as a strategy to improve children’s dietary intake. By following families for 20 years or more, we will learn about how childhood health behaviours are maintained or change over time, and how they relate to long-term health outcomes.
This endeavour capitalizes on the extensive expertise of researchers at the University of Guelph spanning social and behavioural sciences, biology and diet, and physical activity. The results of this research will inform a sustainable and effective model for early life health promotion and yield long-term benefits to improve health and manage health care costs.
