Dr. Monique Potvin Kent is an Associate Professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. She has a Ph.D. in Population Health, a Master’s degree in Psychology, and Bachelor’s degrees in both Psychology and Political Science. She is a multi-disciplinary applied public health researcher who focuses on the prevention of obesity and other chronic diseases by examining food and nutrition policies and the commercial determinants of health. Dr. Potvin Kent is an expert in food and beverage marketing targeted at children and adolescents, the healthfulness of this marketing, and whether current policies are protecting children in various media channels such as on television and in digital media, and in child settings such as schools. She has a decade of experience doing research, policy development, and advocacy work in the area of food marketing to children and is recognized for this work nationally and internationally. Her research has also informed the development of health policy in Canada, and the policy position and advocacy efforts of many non-governmental organizations. It has been featured repeatedly in the national media. Dr. Potvin Kent has received funding from CIHR, NSERC, WHO, Health Canada, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation and frequently collaborates with governments and non-governmental health organizations.
The marketing of unhealthy food to children is widely recognized as a critical contributor to less healthy food environments. This presentation will describe the importance of monitoring unhealthy food and beverage marketing in Canada, and present a monitoring framework developed for Health Canada to evaluate various aspects of marketing. The framework will support comprehensive evaluation of various aspects of marketing which are likely to be influenced by proposed regulations in Canada that will restrict the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children. The session will describe how indicators from the aforementioned monitoring framework will be integrated with research from the INFORMAS Canada initiative to assess unhealthy food marketing on television, digital media and in various child settings. The utility of these indicators for international comparisons will also be explored. Overall, the session will provide an overview of some of the current and forthcoming monitoring activities related to food marketing in Canada.