Have you noticed the growing space in grocery stores for products like almond, cashew, and oat milk? Between 2018 and 2020 the popularity of plant-based beverages has greatly increased1, with […]
Have you noticed the growing space in grocery stores for products like almond, cashew, and oat milk? Between 2018 and 2020 the popularity of plant-based beverages has greatly increased1, with […]
Supplements have become a hot topic in society lately. How do we know which supplements may be more worth our attention and are safe to use? This blog series of […]
You have likely noticed when buying groceries that food costs have gone way up! In fact, cost of food has risen 8.3% in April 2023, compared to 2022. [1] Foods […]
Making time to cook delicious and nutritious meals every day can be tough for busy families. Meal kit delivery services have gained popularity as an alternative to eating out or […]
A healthy diet can decrease the risk of obesity, but did you know it can also affect our mental health? Physical activity and sleep are well-established factors that impact our […]
Every day we are exposed to marketing in a variety of ways. While watching our favourite TV programs, on a billboard on our drive to work, or more likely, online […]
It is amazing how words have changed in meaning. A few years ago, if asked this question, you might reply with where you were born or describe the cultural roots of […]
As the global pandemic continues, it can be difficult to do certain activities or be motivated to do these activities. Why is it so important to get out and stay […]
Eating is an essential part of everyone’s lives. Eating is what gives our body’s nutrients and the energy we need to go about our days. Now I know what you’re […]
It’s safe to say that we have all been feeling the effects of COVID-19 on our mental state. With the ever-present rules and restrictions keeping us from getting close to […]
Our Medical Student Researchers Jessica WangHi! My name is Jessica and I am a medical student working on a research project with CHANGE Health. CHANGE Health runs a diet and […]
Here is another great piece written by Renae Smith, Memorial Composite High School Student. Enjoy! Today I wanted to talk about connecting. Without connection, you may feel like nothing is […]
Mental Health includes our emotional well being, psychological well being, our social well being, and our abilities to think, feel, or act. Mental health is something that affects most people […]
Have you ever wondered why some days you find yourself much hungrier than usual, and more specifically craving more calorically dense foods? There is a high possibility that it is […]
Millions of people consume caffeine every day. It gets us through long shifts and can help us beat the urge to sleep to meet our midnight deadlines. However, caffeine, though […]
Hi Everyone, This past year, we had the pleasure of having a couple high school students work with our team. This is the first of several blog posts by our […]
How the world has changed? It has been over four months of social distancing. How are you holding up? It is amazing how quickly the world can change. In a matter of a […]
As usual, the nutrition world is ever changing. Slowly, people are starting to hear that we have a new food guide. Again?! Haven’t we changed the food guide before? The […]
For most of us, September means the air gets cooler and the pace of life gets quicker. Also, food is often a topic of conversation at this time of year. […]
It has been several years since I was in high school. While this can be a challenging time for many young people, others excel and view high school as some […]
Family physicians provide care throughout patients’ lifetimes. They are typically the first and continuing point of contact for access to health services, support, and care, and they often deliver preventive care based on the effects of lifestyle choices on the health of their patients. An increasing number of people are developing preventable chronic conditions like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
Klein D, Humphries S, Kallio M, Madiha M. Program Description: CHANGE Exercise Intervention for Primary Care. Canadian Family Physician.
As I take a look at the family schedule for the week, most times is looks like the game Tetris with all white space filled with different colours for work, […]
FEATURE POST from Down Under: It’s easy to think that we can look at the scales and know if we are completely healthy or not. Lots of messages we get […]
To describe the dietary, exercise, smoking, and alcohol use habits among physician faculty to determine if physician lifestyle behaviour is related to attitudes about and practices of patient lifestyle counseling.
Last month, I wrote about Richard Louv’s Nature Deficit Disorder. In order to support this work, together with my colleagues at the University of Alberta and many community partners, we […]
This year, I came across the term ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’. Several years ago, Richard Louv coined the term to represent the affect of removing nature from our lives. In his […]
Many people I talk to say that would like to improve their lifestyles but they do not have the time. They want to exercise but run out of time. They […]
This week, I had the great pleasure of listening to a talk by Dr. H. Gilbert Welch. Dr. Welch is a general internist and professor of Medicine at the Dartmouth […]
Physical activity is recommended for improving or maintaining your health. It is associated with a lower risk for chronic disease, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, depression, anxiety […]
Many people start the New Year with a resolution to do something different. It may be ‘go to the gym’ or ‘lose some weight’. Many of these resolutions are long […]
About a year ago I read the book by John Ratey called Spark: the Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. At the time I read the book because […]
Hi Everyone. After the Grey Cup win by the Eskimos, Edmonton is the City of Champions once again. Bragging rights for a year. Although it has been a very mild […]
Recently, I saw “That Sugar Film” and was keen to share it with you on the CHANGE Health Blog. I asked my dietitian colleagues to watch it and give me […]
I hope everyone had a good weekend. I figured that the day after Halloween would be the perfect day to start the regular posting of resources for people. As I […]
Weight loss is one of the most common health goals that individuals patients mention when asked in my family medicine clinic. Messages about weight loss surround us. Whether it is […]
“If we could give every individual just the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little not too much, we would have found the safest way to health” – Hippocrates […]
Gamify Your Health A couple months ago I was asked by a colleague to write an editorial on electronic physical activity trackers. We had recently began a long trip and […]
E-health has been touted as the “single-most important revolution in healthcare since the advent of modern medicine, vaccines or even public health measures like sanitation and clean water”. Common areas of e-health include telemedicine, electronic patient records, computer-assisted surgery, and monitoring systems that are portable and/or wearable such as activity trackers. Some primary care physicians are engaging patients in self-monitoring, and goal setting through the use of novel e-health technologies. In 2013, wearable health-tracking technologies generated over US $1.6 billion, a number which is expected to rise to US $5 billion by 2016.
While on a trip recently, I got a first hand experience with the Australian healthcare system. Who would have thought that going to the beach could be so dangerous? The […]
As a family doctor, I look after people throughout their life. I often see the impact of lifestyle choices on the health of my patients, both good and bad. An […]
As a family doctor, I look after patients throughout their lives, from birth to death. In addition to helping patient with their health concerns, I am always promoting the benefits […]
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) refers to a particular cluster of metabolic abnormalities (hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and visceral fat deposition) that can lead to a 1.5- to 2-fold increased relative risk of cardiovascular disease. Various combinations of healthier eating patterns and increased physical activity have been shown to improve metabolic abnormalities and reduce MetS prevalence.
The aim of the Building on Existing Tools to Improve Chronic Disease Prevention and Screening in Family Practice (BETTER) randomized controlled trial is to improve the primary prevention of and screening for multiple conditions (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer) and some of the associated lifestyle factors (tobacco use, alcohol overuse, poor nutrition, physical inactivity). In this article, we describe how we harmonized the evidence-based clinical practice guideline recommendations and patient tools to determine the content for the BETTER trial.
Have you ever wondered if a family physician can actually influence patients to adopt lifestyle changes? To find this out, we conducted a small project based in our family practice in Edmonton, Alta. The results might surprise you.