School of Nutrition Sciences
The University Of Ottawa
Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) settings shape young children’s daily food environments in Canada, yet the content and consistency of nutrition‑related guidance across jurisdictions remain poorly understood. This scoping review examined the content and comprehensiveness of provincial and territorial ELCC nutritional guidelines to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities for improvement. A systematic grey literature search identified nutrition guidelines, standards, licensing handbooks or manuals, and policy documents from all 13 Canadian provinces and territories. Each document was reviewed using a structured data extraction tool and assessed for predefined recommendations mapped onto the four domains of the Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity (ANGELO) framework: physical (food availability), political (rules and regulations), sociocultural (attitudes, beliefs, values, norms), and economic (costs and resources). Eighteen documents from 10 jurisdictions met inclusion criteria. Coverage of the physical domain was the most comprehensive and consistent, with all guidelines referencing nutrition standards aligned with national dietary guidance. In contrast, recommendations in the political and economic domains were largely absent, reflecting limited attention to structural supports and resource‑related considerations. Sociocultural guidance varied: most jurisdictions emphasized opportunities for nutrition education, responsive educator feeding practices, and parent engagement, yet only one included explicit guidance on staff training to support implementation of healthy eating practices. Current ELCC guidelines prioritize the physical food environment but insufficiently address political, economic, and sociocultural factors that influence feeding practices. Strengthening and harmonizing ELCC nutrition guidelines nationwide represents an important opportunity to support equitable, comprehensive, and health‑promoting food environments for young children in Canada.
Dr. Claire Tugault Lafleur is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa and a Registered Dietitian with over a decade of clinical and community experience supporting children and families across Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario. She completed her PhD in Human Nutrition at the University of British Columbia and a postdoctoral fellowship at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, where she established a research trajectory centered on developing and evaluating interventions to promote healthy eating and physical activity among children and youth. Dr. Tugault Lafleur’s research program integrates population level epidemiological approaches with applied behavioural science to better understand and improve children’s food environments. Her work includes examining children’s dietary behaviours and their social determinants using large, population based datasets; designing and evaluating health promotion interventions in family, childcare, and school settings; and co developing innovative tools to measure eating behaviours and food parenting practices among children and adolescents. A key focus of her scholarship involves collaborating with families, educators, community partners, and young people to generate evidence that informs policy and practice—particularly related to school provided meals, equitable access to nutritious foods, and supportive feeding environments. Through her teaching, mentorship, and community engagement, she is committed to building capacity among future health professionals and advancing evidence based strategies that foster healthy eating habits across early childhood and adolescence. Dr. Tugault Lafleur’s work ultimately aims to strengthen nutrition policies, improve food environments, and support families in nurturing positive and sustainable eating behaviours for children accross Canada.