Learning Objective 1:
What kind of information will we collect?

The food environment where children live, learn and play shapes what they eat and how they think about food. We call each of these places ‘settings’.

Settings include:

  • Schools
  • Childcares
  • Recreation facilities
  • Public buildings
  • Restaurants
  • Grocery stores
  • Community resources
  • Local government

For each setting, you will be collecting information on different indicators to help assess how healthy the food environment is. The indicators benchmark the following list. For optional/supplementary information on current research relevant to each of these indicators, background information is available in Alberta’s 2021 Nutrition Report Card at the page numbers indicated.

  • Available food (page 18)
    • Schools (page 21)
    • Childcare (page 28)
    • Community Settings (page 34)
  • Cost of food (healthy vs unhealthy) (page 110)
  • Food-related policy (page 171)
  • Tools to help implement food policy (page 199)
  • Food vendor contracts specifying healthy food (page 214)
  • Barriers to offering healthy food
  • Subsidized fruit/veg program (page 123)
  • Type of food outlets close to schools (page 40)
  • Nutrition education/weight bias information (page 91)
  • Weight stigma Info (page 145)
  • Marketing of healthy/unhealthy foods (page 74)
  • Permit/facilitate breastfeeding; WHO baby-friendly standards (page 155)
  • Nutrition information at point of purchase (page 60)
  • Children’s cereal nutrition information (page 49)
  • Shelf labelling (page 60)
  • Nutrition-related community resources: local support free of charge, emergency/temporary food programs, and number of healthy food vendors available (page 195)
  • Whether local government considers health impacts when creating policies (page 195)

Q: How many questions are there?

Settings # of questions Type of question
Schools 22
  • 3 check box
  • 1 dropdown menu linked to database
  • 14 yes/no
  • 4 multiple choice
Childcares 11
  • 1 dropdown menu linked to database
  • 5 yes/no
  • 5 multiple choice
Recreation facilities 15
  • 2 check box
  • 1 dropdown menu linked to database
  • 6 yes/no
  • 6 multiple choice
Public buildings 16
  • 2 check box
  • 1 dropdown menu linked to database
  • 6 yes/no
  • 7 multiple choice
Restaurants 3
  • 2 multiple choice
  • 1 yes/no
Grocery stores 2
  • 1 dropdown menu linked to database
  • 1 multiple choice
Community resources 5
  • 1 open ended
  • 3 check box
  • 1 dropdown menu linked to database
Local government 1
  • 1 multiple choice

Q: What if I cannot collect all the information at once?

You can start your survey, save your results, and complete it over time. Working with a team of people to collect and enter the data will speed up the process. It’s a team effort!