Through the establishment of a youth engagement initiative (KidsCan) this project will directly involve Canadian youth as advisors and partners in the research and development of innovative mobile based solutions to health problems that face today’s youth. The researchers and community partner will address the problem of childhood obesity that threatens the well being of Canadian youth and society. With direct involvement of youth partners in the design and evaluation processes, a smartphone application (MobileKids) will be developed that will help promote voluntary physical activity and healthy eating habits among youth. Along with interesting activities that require physical effort, the MobileKids application will include readily available nutritional information and interesting physiological data like heart and respiratory rates that can be used to generate peer support and interpersonal competition among young users to develop and adhere to healthy habits. In the long term, the KidsCan initiative will serve as a platform for development of more innovative solutions like MobileKids, while getting youth excited about science and research.
Principal Investigator:
- Dr. Guy Dumont, Professor, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia
Community Partner:
- Dr. Jean-Pierre Chanoine, Sub-speciality Director (Research Component), Centre for Healthy Weights Program, ShapeDown BC
Co-Investigators:
- Dr. John Mark Ansermino, Associate Professor, Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of British Columbia
- Dr. Anne Junker, Associate Professor, Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia