BCAHL Blog
More Kids Need to Move More Often to Boost Brain Health
June 20, 2018 BC’s Physical Activity and Health Collaborative supports findings in the 2018 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth that links brain health with regular physical activity Only 35 per cent of 5- to 17-year-olds and 62 per cent of 3- to 4-year-olds are getting the recommended physical activity levels for their age group, the report card found, and this may be having an impact on the health of...MediaRead More >
Come as You Are – Reconnecting Disengaged Youth with Physical Activity
May 2, 2018 Please join the BC Alliance for Healthy Living on Wednesday, May 23rd from 9:00-10:00 am for a webinar on new approaches to increase youth participation in physical activity. The teen years are a time when kids increasingly withdraw from sports and physical activity. For some youth, the barriers to participation are more difficult to overcome and motivation is a challenge for them and for those that are trying reach out...Read More >
BCAHL Announces New Executive Director, Rita Koutsodimos and Acknowledges Outgoing Mary Collins
April 3, 2018 “The Board of Directors wishes to thank Mary Collins for her leadership and the contributions she made to the BC Alliance for Healthy Living over the past decade” announced Shannon Turner, Chair of BCAHL and Executive Director, Public Health Association of BC. “After accepting Mary’s resignation, the Board established a Search Committee which undertook a thorough process, that included vetting and interviewing several interested applicants. As a result of this...Read More >
HandyDART Advocate Urges Improvements for Riders with ‘No Other Options’
November 14, 2017 Gary Brown is a regular HandyDART rider who has lived in Burnaby for 32 years, he used to work for Southern Rail, a job he loved, but that all changed in 1997. “I was diagnosed with MS in ’97, I tried to keep on working and would have stayed until I was 65 but I had to cut it short after five years.” He explains how mobility means so much...Read More >
Hashing it Out: Can We Learn About Cannabis From What We Know About Alcohol?
October 26, 2017 On October 25th, BCAHL hosted a webinar on the parallels between alcohol and cannabis. Over the last four years, the policy environment for alcohol and cannabis has undergone some massive changes. Since 2013, when the BC government released its Liquor Policy Review, we have seen a relaxation of regulations on alcohol – which has really changed the ways and places it can be sold. We can now buy it at...WebinarRead More >
Riding a Bike Gave Her Independence, Freedom and Health
October 16, 2017 Martia made quite the impression in Kelowna this year – pedaling around town with a big clunky air-cast on her left foot! Her voice shakes as she tells me her story but as we talk (and laugh!), it becomes clear that she is unwavering in her conviction that a bike is “not just a toy” but a vehicle for independence, community, health and joy. “As a kid, I had a...Read More >
Hashing it Out: Can We Learn About Cannabis From What We Know About Alcohol?
October 10, 2017 Please join the BC Alliance for Healthy Living on Wednesday, October 25th from 9:00 am to 10:30 am Pacific Time for a webinar in which we will explore the public health parallels between alcohol and cannabis. In recent years, there has been a dramatic shift in policy approaches to substance use in Canada and BC. The introduction of Happy Hours and expansion of booze sales to new places such as...WebinarRead More >
Walk this Way: How School Safety Zones Make Space for Active Kids
October 4, 2017 Last week, alarm over the death of a pedestrian at an intersection near her school of 500 students prompted Sue Groesbeck, the Head of Stratford Hall to go public about her concerns. She wants the area to be declared a school zone and some basic safety supports, including a 30km/hour speed limit, an illuminated cross-walk and traffic calming measures. Unfortunately, this issue plays out on the streets surrounding schools across...Read More >
“Terrified” Kelowna Resident has Advice to Make Streets More Bike Friendly for Women
October 3, 2017 Kelsey Sheppy is enthusiastic about living an active lifestyle. She balances a busy work life at RE/MAX of Western Canada head office with a busy home life, raising her two teenaged step-kids, walking her two Yorkies and running half-marathons. But there is one activity that, up until this year, has always terrified her…riding a bike. Although Kelsey is perfectly situated to bike to work, “my office is right in downtown...Read More >
Why don’t people in small towns walk or bike anymore?
September 26, 2017 I grew up in a small city of 15,000 people and it was just natural to walk or bike anywhere I wanted to go – nothing was far away and it was an enjoyable way to get around. Fast forward a couple decades and what we see today is lower rates of walking and biking in smaller towns and higher rates in big cities – especially in the urban core....Read More >
