Public Health Dietitian Services
Related topics: Children and youth health Nutrition & Dietitian services Pregnancy and early childhood Public Health
Public health dietitians work at a population health level. Rather than seeing individual clients, we collaborate with health service providers, organizations, school districts, local governments and others to support policies, programs, resources and training to promote nutrition and health.
Working within a framework of trauma-informed practice, cultural safety, client-centred care, diversity and inclusion and with a focus on Truth and Reconciliation, we work to address issues impacting nutrition, such as equity, weight stigma, responsive feeding, food insecurity and food system sustainability.
What to expect
Services provided by public health dietitians include:
- Educating VCH staff on topics such as infant nutrition, food allergy prevention, responsive feeding, weight bias, growth monitoring, and prevention of disordered eating.
- Promoting healthy eating messages, recognizing diverse ways to eat well, and advocating for supportive language and representative images.
- Working with food programs and other community organizations to promote food security for priority populations.
- Participating in local, provincial and national committees that advocate for nutrition policies for various populations and assist with developing nutrition standards, food policies and resources.
- Participating in school program planning (e.g. school breakfast and lunch programs, school gardens, classroom food literacy curriculum).
- Helping daycares, preschools and schools to develop inclusive food and nutrition policies.
- Providing advice and support on implementing School Food Guidelines (e.g. food service, fundraisers, vending machines, and other school events).
- Providing education sessions to teachers on topics such as weight bias, preventing disordered eating, and Canada’s Food Guide through the Teach Food First resources.
- Helping school staff and other service providers to find appropriate nutrition services.
- Partnering with BCCDC to participate in food costing surveillance in BC, a key indicator used to advocate for improved access to food in BC.
- Providing feedback on nutrition resources created by partner organizations such as the Ministry of Health, Health Canada, and Perinatal Services of BC.
- Participating in research with academic institution partners.
- Helping community organizations create nutrition programs and policies.
Resources
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Canada’s Food Guide
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Dietitian Services at HealthLinkBC
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Nutrition resources for schools
Providing children with positive food experiences has been shown to promote physical and mental health. Schools play a crucial role in shaping children’s eating attitudes and behaviours and help lay the foundation for a healthy relationship with food.
Contact us
Contact your local public health dietitian or community health specialist to learn more about our services.
Vancouver
Vanessa Lam
Phone: (604) 803-4605
Email: vanessa.lam@vch.ca
Richmond
Teya Stephens (on leave; please contact the local community health specialist for assistance in connecting with a public health dietitian)
Derek Lai, Community Health Specialist
Phone: (604) 233-3150
Email: teya.stephens@vch.ca
North and West Vancouver
Margaret Broughton
Phone: (604) 813-5238
Email: margaret.broughton@vch.ca
Sea-to-Sky
Alison Westwood
Phone: (604) 786-5703
Email: Alison.Westwood@vch.ca
Sunshine Coast & Powell River
Meghan Molnar
Phone: (604) 741-1425
Email: Meghan.Molnar@vch.ca
Central Coast
Elizabeth Howard
Email: elizabeth.howard@vch.ca