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Healthy Eating

Last updated on July 11, 2024

Healthy eating is a pattern of eating that contributes to the best possible health through positive relationships with food and diverse, balanced food choices that meet a person’s needs for nutrients and energy.

Healthy eating promotes and supports social, physical, and mental well-being for all people at all ages and stages of life and contributes to the overall health of individuals, families, and communities. Healthy eating helps minimize the risk and occurrence and supports the management of disease.

Under the leadership of the Provincial Dietitian, the province is addressing healthy eating by:

  • Building partnerships to support healthy living
  • Creating, identifying and communicating evidence-based best practice resources with partners and stakeholders
  • Developing strategic policy to ensure activities and programs are both effective and aligned with goals
  • Ensuring accountability for managing resources and monitoring outcomes as programs and policies are developed and implemented

Policies

Healthy Food and Beverage Sales

In British Columbia, guidelines have been developed that set out the minimum nutrition standards for food and beverages sold in a variety of public places. The guidelines are tools to help create healthy eating environments where people work, learn and play.

Schools

The Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools define the nutrition standard that schools are required to apply to all food and beverages sold to students. This document contains information, tools and fact sheets to support implementation of these mandated Guidelines in schools and at school sanctioned events.

Public Buildings

The Healthier Choices in Vending Machines in BC Public Buildings Policy came into effect in 2006 and was updated in 2014 to align with other provincial nutrition standards. The policy applies to vending machines located in provincial public buildings, including health care facilities.

B.C. Pediatric Nutrition Guidelines

The B.C. Pediatric Nutrition Guidelines (Birth to Six Years) for Health Professionals are evidence-informed nutrition and feeding guidelines for healthy full-term infants and children from birth to six years of age. Health professionals can use the guidelines to provide high-quality care related to feeding and to identify potential nutrition risk. The B.C. Pediatric Nutrition Guidelines (Birth to Six Years) for Health Professionals were updated December 2022.

Vitamin D Recommendations

This paper discusses the current scientific evidence for vitamin D’s role in health, as well as information on sources of vitamin D in British Columbia. The paper’s intention is to support health professionals in providing informed recommendations to clients/patients to ensure adequate vitamin D intakes for perinatal women and healthy, term infants (birth – 12 months).

This is a quick reference tool for health professionals related to vitamin D in order to provide informed recommendations to clients/patients to ensure adequate vitamin D intakes for perinatal women and healthy, term infants (birth – 12 months).

Programs

Many healthy eating programs and services are available to people living in British Columbia  through partnerships between the Ministry of Health, health authorities and non-government agencies.  Discuss any food or nutrition issue with a registered dietitian by calling HealthLink BC at 8-1-1 and asking to speak to a dietitian or by emailing a HealthLink BC dietitian.

BC School Fruit and Vegetable Nutritional Program

The program delivers B.C. grown fruits, vegetables, dairy, and hard-boiled eggs to participating schools. The program can be tailored to meet individual school needs, for example schools can participate weekly and receive multiple varieties of choice with each order.

Farm to School BC

Farm to School BC brings healthy, local food into schools through partnerships with local farmers and helps students learn about the food system.

Farmers' Market Nutrition Coupon Program

The Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program helps lower-income seniors and families, including pregnant women, access locally grown produce and food products.

Food Skills for Families

This hands-on cooking program helps lower-income families learn to select and to prepare healthy food. 

Generation Health

Generation Health offers targeted community and clinical programs dedicated to supporting families with children and youth on their journey towards healthy living. Families build the foundation for health by focusing on active living, healthy eating, family connections, screen time, sleep, and mental well-being.

There are two programs under the Generation Health brand:

​ Live 5-2-1-0 

Live 5-2-1-0 is an initiative that partners with communities across BC to promote and support healthy behaviours among children. By bringing community stakeholders together, Live 5-2-1-0 helps build partnerships and opportunities to create healthy environments where kids can eat well and be active where they live, learn, and play. 

Resources

A variety of print and web resources are available to provide individuals and families with the knowledge and skills needed to choose and enjoy nutritious foods for optimal growth and development, preventing chronic disease and lifelong wellness.

Early Years

Appetite to Play 

Appetite to Play supports early years providers, parents and caregivers to promote and encourage physical activity and healthy eating. 

Schools

Bake Better Bites

Find recipes and tips for preparing healthy baked goods while supporting schools to meet the 2013 edition of the Guidelines for Food and Beverages Sales in BC Schools. Bake Better Bites is helpful for parents, community volunteers, school staff and students.

Teach Food First 

Teach Food First supports educators with tips, resources and lesson plans for exploring Canada’s food guide in the classroom while encouraging positive food experiences. Teach Food First lessons align with the BC curriculum, are grade-specific and age-appropriate and were developed with equity and culturally inclusive considerations.

Tips and Recipes for Quantity Cooking

Get tips on how to choose healthy recipes, substitutions to make favourite recipes healthier and a selection of recipes that meet the 2013 Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools.

Healthy Eating for Seniors Handbook

Find recipes, menu plans and information on good nutrition to keep you healthy as you age.

Baby's Best Chance

A resource for new parents from pregnancy, through birth, and in the parenting of a baby up to six months of age that includes information about healthy eating for pregnant women and new moms.

Toddler's First Steps

Find parenting tips and child health and wellness information for parents and caregivers of children between the ages of six months and three years of age.

Plan H: Healthy Eating and Food Security

Find information and tools for local governments to support healthy eating and food security in their communities.

Health Professionals 

Balanced View 

Balanced View is a free evidence-informed online learning resource designed to reduce weight bias and stigma among medical professionals, mental health professionals, allied health professionals and public health professionals across the province. 

Beyond Nutrition

This interactive course is intended to support health care providers in understanding and navigating our complex relationships with food. It provides information to make conversations about food sensitive, relevant, and practical. 

Looking for nutrition advice? Registered Dietitians are your most trusted source for credible nutrition information and are accountable to a provincial regulatory body such as the  College of Health and Care Professionals of BC . You can connect with a dietitian in several ways:

Learn more about provincial programs that support food security. Food security is the foundation for healthy eating and requires a food supply that is stable and sustainable.