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UVic researcher seeks families for healthy eating study

The goal of the project, slated for a late-April start, is to teach simple, healthy nutritional strategies
Healthy Eating Study 3
Dr. Patti-Jean Naylor and grad student David Trill hold up a platter of healthy foods. The UVic duo are seeking participants for a healthy eating study to be conducted through the school of exercise

With childhood obesity on the rise, health professionals and researchers alike are seeking ways to ensure the next generation grows up healthy.

David Trill, a master’s candidate in the school of exercise science, physical and health education at the University of Victoria, is studying child health through healthy eating activities. He’s currently seeking participants to get his home-based research project off the ground.

“There’s been a lot of school-based research, but it’s working up to a certain point,” Trill said. “My approach is to try healthy eating strategies through the families because it’s the parents who are the gatekeepers for the kids.”

Trill would like the help of 98 family units consisting of one parent and one child between the age of 11 and 13 years old. (Larger families may participate, though data will only be recorded from one parent and one child per family.) The goal of the project, slated for a late-April start, is to teach simple, healthy nutritional strategies, such as cooking together, that both parents and children can take part in. It will require completing about 10 to 12 hours of activities during its eight-week duration.

“I’m engaged in the research world. I’m also a very slight cooking aficionado,” said Trill, an endurance athlete, who has long seen food as a means of bettering physical performance.

“I think a fantastic way to cope (with) and prevent (ailments and illness) is through enhanced nutritional diet, and that comes with a better nutritional understanding and a bit of passion about food. It’s something that we all have to do everyday, three times a day.”

For more information, or to participate in the study, contact Trill at 250-853-3141 or dtrill@uvic.ca.