Amar Laila

University of Guelph | UOGuelph · Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition

Previous research has suggested that children who are exposed to chronic stress are at greater risk for childhood obesity, however little research has examined the mechanism of this association. This study aimed to investigate the association between family and household stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and children’s BMIz, and whether children’...

Food literacy is a growing area of interest given its potential to support healthy and sustainable diets. Most existing food literacy measures focus on nutrition and food skills but fail to address food systems and socio-environmental aspects of food literacy. Further, measures developed and tested in the Canadian context are lacking. The objective...

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of Weeknight Supper Savers, a family-based intervention designed to promote meal preparation and food waste reduction. Methods: The 4-week program was piloted using a single-arm, prepost design. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, the intervention in...

For the first time since its introduction, the 2019 Canada's Food Guide (2019-CFG) highlighted specific guidance on eating practices, i.e., recommendations on where, when, why, and how to eat. The Canadian Eating Practices Screener / Questionnaire court canadien sur les pratiques alimentaires was developed to assess eating practices based on the 20...

Unhealthy diets are detrimental to health, but home meal preparation is associated with better diet quality. Among a sample of parents of children aged 2-12, this study aimed to 1) explore perceived challenges and strategies to meeting the 2019 Canada's Food Guide recommendation of "Cook more often". From October 2019 to January 2020, 8 focus group...

To support Canadians ages 2 years and older in improving their dietary intake, Health Canada released a revised Canada's Food Guide (CFG) in 2019. This study aimed to explore the knowledge and perceptions of the 2019 CFG among children ages 9–12 years old from Southwestern Ontario. From September–November 2021, interviews were conducted with childr...

Contexte : Pour créer une initiative de santé publique réussie qui permet de contrer l’hésitation à l’égard de la vaccination et de promouvoir l’acceptation de la vaccination, il est essentiel d’acquérir une solide compréhension des croyances, des attitudes et des perceptions subjectives de la population à l’égard du risque. Méthodes : Une analyse...

Background: To create a successful public health initiative that counters vaccine hesitancy and promotes vaccine acceptance, it is essential to gain a strong understanding of the beliefs, attitudes and subjective risk perceptions of the population. Methods: A qualitative analysis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine discourse from 3,73...

Objective The COVID-19 pandemic changed consumers’ purchasing and cooking behaviours, which may have resulted in changes in food waste. This study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on household food waste, as well as on purchasing, cooking, and food waste-related perceptions and behaviours among 19 households in Guelph, ON, Canada. Methods Fo...

In January 2019, Health Canada released a revised Canada’s Food Guide (CFG). This study aimed to understand the perceptions of the 2019 CFG among Canadian parents with children aged 2–12 years. From October 2019–January 2020, 8 focus groups with parents from Southwestern Ontario were conducted using a semi-structured interview script focused on und...

Objective: This study aimed to explore barriers and facilitators of the provision of dairy and PBDA by parents of preschool-aged children, a previously unexplored area of research. Design: Five focus groups of parents were conducted and audio-recorded. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Setting: University of Guelph, in G...

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many aspects of daily life. The purpose of this study was to identify how health behaviors, level of stress, financial and food security have been impacted by the pandemic among Canadian families with young children. Parents (mothers, n = 235 and fathers, n = 126) from 254 families participating in an ongoing stu...

Purpose: To investigate dairy and plant-based dairy alternatives (DPBDA) purchasing habits, including comparisons among locations of purchase and among subtypes of DPBDA, of families with preschool-aged children. Methods: Expenditures on food and DPBDA were calculated using grocery and food receipts collected for 3 weeks from 51 households in and...

Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) provide both summative and formative feedback. Although it is clear that SETs are used by administrators for summative purposes, such as providing data to support personnel decisions, it is uncertain how instructors use them for formative development such as to inform overall teaching practice. The objective o...