Developing Long-term Healthy Eating Behaviours in Canadian Kindergarten Curricula

Résumé

This document analysis examines kindergarten curricula regarding healthy eating and/or nutrition from the 13 Canadian provincial and territorial governments, covering an area where knowledge is currently lacking. Curricula are analyzed using a framework composed of five concepts drawn from the healthy eating behaviour development literature and kindergarten pedagogical literature. Results indicate that the curricula of many Canadian educational jurisdictions do not teach lifelong healthy eating behaviours to children in ways that align with the literature. Many nutrition curricula developed for kindergarten classes across Canada challenge teachers respecting the fostering of children’s lifelong healthy eating behaviours. Consequently, present findings fill in current gaps in knowledge about kindergarten nutrition curricula across Canada, providing a needed foundation for future research. This article concludes with a call for the development of kindergarten curricula to better match current research knowledge regarding children’s long-term healthy eating behaviour development.