Nutrition & Food Security

Eating well and taking a daily multivitamin gives you the nutrients you need to feel your best, and it gives your baby the nutrients needed to grow and develop.

Health Canada recommends that all women who could become pregnant, and those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, take a multivitamin containing 400 micrograms of folic acid. In addition, pregnant women need to ensure that their multivitamin contains between 16-20 mg of iron.

Enjoy regular meals and snacks throughout the day following guidance from Canada’s Food Guide. Starting in the second trimester you will need to a little extra food each day such as an extra snack or a small meal. Let your appetite be your guide.

Healthy eating for pregnancy

See HealthLink BC's Pregnancy Page to learn about nutritious food choices, sources of key nutrients such as iron, folate, and omega 3 fats, vegetarian eating, healthy weight gain, food safety, and more. 

Special considerations

• Nausea and vomiting and other pregnancy discomforts
• Healthy eating guidelines for women with gestational diabetes (handout)

Dietitian services at 8-1-1

Dial 8-1-1 and ask to speak to a registered dietitian.

• Dietitians are available Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., to answer your questions about pregnancy and preconception nutrition.
• This service can also help you find an outpatient dietitian or private practice dietitian near you.

Other resources

• Healthy From the Start is a one stop shop that connects you with services in the community to help have a healthy pregnancy. Register as early in your pregnancy as possible.
• Feeding your Baby
• Your Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy - Public Health Agency of Canada
• Prenatal Nutrition Guidelines for Health Professionals

Healthy eating for infants, toddlers and preschoolers

Breastfeeding gives your baby the best start for optimal growth and is recommended to two years and beyond. Your baby will need a liquid vitamin D supplement (400 IU) if they receive any amount of breastmilk. At around six months of age, your baby will be ready to start solid foods. Include plenty of iron rich foods each day such as meat, chicken, fish, eggs, beans and lentils, tofu, iron fortified infant cereal and thinned peanut butter to support proper growth and development.

How you feed your baby and young child is just as important as what you feed them. Start family meals early, role model healthy eating, and support your child as they learn to eat and accept new foods at their own pace. Avoid pressuring your child to eat as it can slow down this learning.

Visit HealthlinkBC, Healthy Eating for Infants and Toddlers for information on:

• Infant feeding
• Baby's first foods
• Feeding your toddler
• Allergy and food safety information

Handouts are available in up to eight languages.

Additional resources

• Feeding Your Baby
• Vitamin D for Babies and Toddlers
• Vitamin D and Your Health - HealthLink BC
• Feeding Young Children
• The Benefits of Eating Together for Children and Families
• Vegetable and Fruit Tips
• Pack and Go Lunches
• Pack and Go Snacks
• Canada’s Food Guide Resources (Age 2 +)
• Reducing Choking Hazards - Toddlers First Steps

Community partners

• Resources for Childcare Providers: Click on the Healthy Eating in Child Care expandable text in the Healthy Eating in Community Settings section of this page,

Dietitian counselling services

Call 8-1-1 to:

Reach Dietitian Services at HealthLinkBC  about feeding your baby or young child: a food allergy expert is available

Breastfeeding* is a human right protected by the BC Human Rights Code. Businesses, organizations and local governments can support breastfeeding by offering comfortable, welcoming and accessible spaces for parents to feed their child when away from home. Developing a policy and educating staff are other important steps for success.

Businesses, Workplaces and Facilities: 

• See these tips to make your business breastfeeding-friendly.
• This infographic outlines how to create a lactation-friendly space in your workplace.
• Use these posters to let people know breastfeeding or chestfeeding is welcome. 

Local Governments: 

Breastfeeding-Friendly Public Spaces Toolkit for Local Governments 

* Some parents may prefer to use the words nursing, chestfeeding, or human milk feeding.

Students spend more time in school than in almost any other environment. Having access to nutritious food at school and the opportunity to engage in positive food experiences helps students develop positive eating attitudes, behaviours and skills that support lifelong well-being.

Opportunities to learn about, prepare and eat food with others contributes to the enjoyment of eating and lifelong healthy eating habits.

School food programs

Students do best when they have positive role models, and when foods offered are in line with healthy eating messages. School food programs can improve access to nutritious foods at school, build food skills, and connect students to their local food systems. Providing positive exposures to growing, preparing, and eating food improves food literacy and has a lasting impact on physical and mental health.

School food program resources: 

• BC School Food Toolkit
• Talking Tips for School Food Providers 
• The Coalition for Healthy School Food BC
• Feed BC resource K-12 schools

Teaching about food and nutrition

Students benefit from many opportunities to build their comfort and skills with food at school, in a pressure-free environment. The following resources provide educators with tips, resources, and lesson plans for providing positive, student-centered food and nutrition education that aligns with the B.C. curriculum

• Teach Food First: An Educators Toolkit for Exploring Canada’s Food Guide 
• Hands on Food
• Educational resources (K-12) (BC Agriculture in the Classroom)
• Interactive grow BC map (all ages)
• Food and nutrition education in the classroom (grades 8-12) (BC Dairy Association)
• Harvest Bin Project (BC Agriculture in the Classroom)
• Spuds in Tubs (BC Agriculture in the Classroom)
• Nurturing Healthy Eaters in the classroom

Popular school food initiatives

The following programs are examples of provincial or regional food-based programs and resources available to schools in B.C. and/or the Interior Health region

• Fresh for Kids (formerly called BC Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition Program)
• Farm to School BC

Body image

Resources to create school environments where all bodies feel welcome and valued.

• Being Me Being Us - Creating a school community where every body belongs
• Weight Bias and Stigma in Schools 
• Promoting Positive Body Image -A resource for educators
• Embody- Promoting positive body image: Resources for educators

Healthy fundraising for schools

Consider non-food fundraiser options or food fundraisers that align with healthy eating messages

• Fresh To You Fundraiser (BC Agriculture in the Classroom)
• Fundraising and Events (BC School Food Toolkit)

Resources for families

• Canada's Food Guide
• Lunches to Go

Positive early experiences with food enhance child development and promote lifelong healthy eating habits. Child care providers play a key role in supporting and creating these experiences. Food is always an important part of the daycare experience, whether you provide food or it is brought from home. If you are unsure what kinds of food you can offer, check with your licensing officer.

See Appetite to Play to access resources and training to help you promote healthy eating and physical activity in early learning settings. Find information on topics like menu planning, recipes, avoiding food battles, supporting parents to send healthy food and developing a nutrition policy.

Fact sheets for child care providers and parents:

• Boost Nutrition in Your Menu
• Smart Snacking in Childcare Settings
• Pack and Go Lunches
• Pack and Go Snacks
• Pack a Safe Lunch
• Healthier Home Baking
• Healthy Celebrations for Child Care
• Fostering Healthy Eating Habits in Your Child Care Facility

Training for child care providers

• Appetite to Play – Access online and in person training to support healthy eating, physical activity, food and physical literacy

Food activities, cooking and gardening

• Food Activities for Young Children
• Dry It Manual
• Gardening Guide for Early Learning

Other related resources and links:

• Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide
• Preventing Choking in Babies and Young Children: For Child Care Providers – HealthLink BC  
• Infants and Children Nutrition - Interior Health
• Dietitian Services at HealthLink BC -  email or speak with a registered dietitian

Healthy eating in the workplace is a key component of workplace wellness. Healthy employees are happier, produce better quality work, and have better attendance rates. There are many ways to create a supportive healthy eating environment.

Healthy Eating at Work - Canada's Food Guide offers ideas on how to eat well at work and create a work environment that supports healthy eating habits.

Eat Smart Meet Smart provides resources to assist meeting organizers with ideas and guidelines for providing food at meetings and conferences. The resource includes information on how to accommodate allergies and other dietary requirements.

Public buildings in BC, including health facilities, BC government facilities and universities/colleges must ensure that foods offered in vending machines meet the Nutritional Guidelines for Vending Machines in BC Public Buildings.

A food system is the complex web of activities involved in feeding everyone. These activities include growing and raising food, harvesting, processing food, transporting food, and the selling and buying of food. A healthy food system is resilient, ecologically sustainable, socially just, and honours Indigenous food sovereignty. A healthy food system gives people access to affordable, nutritious, culturally appropriate and enjoyable options.

Interior Health supports a healthy food system by working with community partners and local governments to ensure that policies exist that support local agriculture and more. This might look like ensuring official community plans have policies consistent with building and maintain healthy food systems.

If you are a community partner or a local government representative wanting to learn more about how people with doctorate (PhD) degrees can help you with food system-related projects, policies and plans, please contact us by email.

For more information on actions you can take to help our local food system, explore these resources:

• Healthy Built Environment Linkages Toolkit
• Agriculture's Connection to Health
• Plan H – Food System Resources for Local Government

Food insecurity exists when factors outside an individual’s control negatively impact their access to enough foods that promote wellbeing. Economic, social, environmental and geographical factors influence this access. Food insecurity is most acutely felt by those who experience the negative impacts of structural inequities, such as discrimination and ongoing colonial practices.

Structural inequities are a significant driver of food insecurity. Structural inequities are unfair and unjust biases present in policies and practices that give advantages to some people, but not others, based on social identities such as race, gender, class, sexual orientation and more.

When people face multiple disadvantages, they are more likely to experience food insecurity. An example is how an immigrant family might struggle to find food they recognize at their local grocery store. Another example is how land use and resource management policies create barriers for Indigenous Peoples to access their traditional hunting and gathering lands. Food insecurity is complex, and the solution is multi factorial.

The Food Security team at Interior Health aims to work towards solutions that address the root causes of food insecurity. No single person, community, organization, institution or government will be able to solve food insecurity on its own. Everyone must all work together to help shape a region where no one experiences food insecurity. If you are working towards changing the food insecurity landscape, reach out to us by email.   

Indigenous food sovereignty (IFS) is an essential element to addressing food security. While this movement is growing around the world, there is no universal definition. At Interior Health, we also do not define Indigenous Food Sovereignty because Indigenous communities have the right to a self-determining food system. Instead, the Public Health Dietitian team follows the lead of our Indigenous partners, and support the rights of Indigenous people to self-determination, including within food and food systems. 

We are always open to working with Indigenous partners on food security and healthy eating projects. We hope that if you wish to work with us and reach out by email.