Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative

Welcome to HeLTI Canada — the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative

We are improving the health and well-being of Canadian children that will continue long-term into adolescence and adulthood. Join this innovative study and get free access to quality support to improve your health and parenting needs. Tell your family and friends – women and their partners from all across Canada can participate!

You will receive Amazon gift cards as a token of appreciation for your time and commitment to the study.

Did you know HeLTI Canada is the first preconception trial in Canada and one of the largest in the world? This study will follow Canadian families for up to 8 years to examine long-term child health. Join now and be a part of something big!

Contact us if you have questions: helticanada@lunenfeld.ca

Check my Eligibility to Join

About the HeLTI Canada Study

HeLTI Canada

HeLTI Canada was developed in partnership with the World Health Organization and is one of four separate but harmonized studies focused on developing evidence-based care for families that span from preconception across pregnancy and into the postpartum period and early childhood. The aim is to improve the health and well-being of children by preventing the development of obesity and chronic diseases. The other three similar studies are being conducted in Soweto (South Africa), Mysore (India), and Shanghai (China) to provide a global perspective.

Purpose

To evaluate whether technology-based care delivered by a public health nurse can improve the health of families before pregnancy (preconception), during pregnancy, and into early childhood and promote child development while preventing obesity and chronic diseases.

Goal

To learn about how the health of parents and their behaviours before, during and after pregnancy can:

1. Promote child development.
2. Prevent obesity and chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes in children later in life.
3. Improve the overall health of families in Canada and worldwide.

Setting

The HeLTI Canada study started recruitment of 5300 families in January 2021 and will follow these families for 8 years. We are recruiting women and their partners who are planning to have a baby in the next 3 years and live anywhere in Canada.

Benefits of Participating in the Study

Icon 4

Expert Curated Information

You will have access to expert-selected health and parenting information and resources via the HeLTI Canada app and your personalized web-page. You may find this health information to be useful for you and your family.

icon 1

Health & Behaviour Tracking​

You will receive general feedback after you complete each online questionnaire so you can track your health, behaviours, and parenting across time. You will also be able to track your current child’s health across time if they participate.

Icon 3

Contribution to Child Development

You will be contributing to a better understanding of healthy child growth and development and aiding in the creation of new strategies to prevent obesity and chronic diseases later in life.

Icon 2

Improving Health Services

You will be providing valuable information that can be used to improve the overall health of Canadians and the health services for (1) pregnancy-planning couples, (2) pregnant women, (3) new parents, and (4) young families.

What we know

Women’s health and health behaviours (such as physical activity, nutrition, sleep patterns, social interactions) before, during, and after pregnancy can significantly influence the health and well-being of their child, with the impact continuing into adolescence and adulthood.

Our goal

To learn about how the health of parents and their behaviours before, during and after pregnancy can

  1. Promote child development
  2. Prevent obesity and chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes in children later in life
  3. Improve the overall health of families in Canada and worldwide.

Who can join

  • Women who are planning to be pregnant in the next 3 years

What you will be asked to do

  • To complete online questionnaires once a year before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and following the delivery of your child conceived in the study until the child is 5 years old
  • Once COVID-19 has ended, we may ask you to have your weight, height, blood pressure, and waist circumference assessed by the HeLTI team once or twice during the study

Study procedures

Families will be randomly assigned into either Group A or Group B.

Group A will receive telephone-based care + access to HeLTI Canada’s web-based app for expert-selected educational and supportive e-health materials.

Group B will receive access to HeLTI Canada’s web-based app for expert-selected educational and supportive e-health materials + supportive calls on the use of the website and e-health content.

What you will receive

You will receive gift cards as a token of appreciation for your time and commitment.

  • $15 gift card for each online questionnaire completed
  • $20 family gift card for each clinic visit (for weight, height, blood pressure)
  • You could earn up to $325 in gift cards plus $270 if your partner and first child also join and complete the study

What we know

Men’s health and health behaviours (such as physical activity, nutrition, sleep patterns, social interaction) before, during, and after pregnancy, can significantly influence the health and well-being of their child, with the impact continuing into adolescence and adulthood.

Our goal

To learn about how the health of parents and their behaviours before, during and after pregnancy can

  1. Promote child development
  2. Prevent obesity and chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes in children later in life
  3. Improve the overall health of families in Canada and worldwide.

Who can join

  • Partners of women who are planning to be pregnant in the next 3 years.

What you will be asked to do

  • To complete online questionnaires once a year before the pregnancy, during pregnancy, and following the delivery of your child conceived in the study until the child is 5 years old
  • Once COVID-19 has ended, we may ask you to have your weight, height, blood pressure, and waist circumference assessed by the HeLTI team once or twice during the study

Study procedures

Families will be randomly assigned into either Group A or Group B.

Group A will receive telephone-based care + access to HeLTI Canada’s web-based app for expert-selected educational and supportive e-health materials.

Group B will receive access to HeLTI Canada’s web-based app for expert-selected educational and supportive e-health materials + supportive calls on the use of the website and e-health content.

What you will receive

You will receive gift cards as a token of appreciation for your time and commitment.

  • $15 gift card for each online questionnaire completed
  • $20 family gift card for each clinic visit (for weight, height, blood pressure)
  • You could earn up to $325 in gift cards plus $270 if your partner and first child also join and complete the study

What we know

Parents’ health before and during pregnancy can impact the long-term health and well-being of children that continues into adulthood. Children’s health behaviours (such as exercise, eating, sleep, screen time) during their first years of life can also significantly influence their health and growth and these health behaviours are greatly influenced by parents.

Our goal

To learn about how the health of parents and their behaviours before, during and after pregnancy can

  1. Promote child development
  2. Prevent obesity and chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes in children later in life
  3. Improve the overall health of families in Canada and worldwide.

Who can join

  • Children born during the study (we are recruiting women who are planning to have a baby in the next 3 years).
  • If a woman already has one child up to 12 months old, we will invite this child to join the study as well (optional).

What you will be asked to do

  • The mother of the child born in this study will be asked to complete online questionnaires about her child’s behaviour and development at 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 months after delivery. If her first child is enrolled in the study (optional), the same questionnaires will be asked once a year until the first child is 5 years old.
  • To have the child’s clinical data (weight, height) assessed at 24 and 60 months of age.

Study procedures

Families will be randomly assigned into either Group A or Group B.

Group A will receive telephone-based care + access to HeLTI Canada’s web-based app for expert-selected educational and supportive e-health materials.

Group B will receive access to HeLTI Canada’s web-based app for expert-selected educational and supportive e-health materials + supportive calls on the use of the website and e-health content.

What you will receive

Parents will be given gift cards as a token of appreciation for their time and commitment.

  • $15 gift card for each online questionnaire completed
  • $20 family gift card for each clinic visit (for weight, height, blood pressure)
  • You could earn up to $325 in gift cards plus $270 if your partner and first child also join and complete the study

Appreciation Gift Cards

You will receive gift cards as a token of appreciation for your time and commitment to the study. A $15 gift card will be provided for each online questionnaire completed. You could earn up to $325 in gift cards plus $270 if your partner and first child also join and complete the study.