NutriSTEP®
NutriSTEP®
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History & Acknowledgements

NutriSTEP® History

  • NutriSTEP® stands for Nutrition Screening Tool for Toddlers and Preschoolers.
  • Preschool NutriSTEP®, released in 2008, was developed in both English and French and then translated into 6 additional languages commonly used in Canada.
  • Toddler NutriSTEP®, released in 2012, was adapted from the original NutriSTEP® and then translated into French and Spanish.
  • Both questionnaires were developed, refined and tested for validity and reliability with more than 2000 multicultural (including First Nations, East Asian, Persian, South American and Italian) and geographically diverse parents and their young children across Canada.
  • The NutriSTEP® program was led by dietitian researchers from the University of Guelph and the Public Health Sudbury & Districts (PHSD).
  • Copyright owners and Dietitians of Canada worked collaboratively to adapt NutriSTEP® as a Nutri-eSTEP online feature (2013-2022) that could be accessed easily by parents and provide them with immediate feedback.
  • Copyright owners and Dietitians of Canada (DC) worked collaboratively with the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), a part of the Provincial Health Services Authority, to develop a BC version of Nutri-eSTEP (2017-2022).
  • The Nutri-eSTEP feature was revised in 2023 by the NutriSTEP® Research Team in collaboration with BCCDC, DC, and PHSD. 

Partners & Funding

  • NutriSTEP® development and testing was led by dietitian researchers from the Public Health Sudbury & Districts (PHSD) and the University of Guelph.
  • The NutriSTEP® research team received funding from the City of Greater Sudbury, the Province of Ontario (Ontario Early Years Challenge Fund), Health Canada (Population Health Fund), the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for the 2008 development of the original preschool NutriSTEP®.
  • The initial www.nutristep.ca website was developed in 2009 by PHSD, Janis Randall Simpson, Heather Keller and Lee Rysdale, with funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to support broader access to NutriSTEP® resources. This site was revised in 2019 with funding from Public Health Ontario’s Locally Driven Collaborative Project program. The site was revised in 2023 with funding from CIHR (Planning and Dissemination Grant). The www.nutristep.ca is hosted on a University of Guelph faculty webpage.
  • The NutriSTEP® research team received funding from CIHR (Knowledge Transition Supplement) for the 2012 development of Toddler NutriSTEP®.
  • The NutriSTEP® research team received funding in 2013 from CIHR (Knowledge Translation Supplement) to develop and launch Nutri-eSTEP in collaboration with Dietitians of Canada. Funding for the initial development of Nutri-eSTEP was also provided from Dietitians of Canada, the University of Guelph, and the University of Guelph-Humber.
  • The NutriSTEP® Implementation Toolkit was developed by the NutriSTEP® research team, and was revised in 2015, with funding from the Nutrition Resource Centre (Ontario).
  • The How to Build a Healthy Toddler/Preschooler parent education booklets were developed by the NutriSTEP® research team. The English and French versions were revised in 2015 with funding from the Nutrition Resource Centre (Ontario).
  • Funding from the Canadian Home Economics Association in 2021 supported research into revisions to the original NutriSTEP® questionnaires.
  • The Nutri-eSTEP platform was revised in 2023 with funding from CIHR (Planning and Dissemination Grant) in collaboration with Dietitians of Canada, the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) (a part of the Provincial Health Services Authority), Family Health Nutrition Advisory Group of Ontario Dietitians in Public Health and PHSD. Nutri-eSTEP is hosted on the www.nutristep.ca website at the University of Guelph.

The Nutri-eSTEP feedback messages, updated in 2019 to align with Canada’s Food Guide by the BCCDC, were adapted, with permission, for the 2023 version of Nutri-eSTEP. The changes made do not imply endorsement by BCCDC of the 2023 version of the Nutri-eSTEP platform or the feedback messages.

*Disclaimer: The views expressed in the materials associated with NutriSTEP® do not necessarily represent the official policies of the above funders or collaborators.

Acknowledgements

The NutriSTEP® Research Team thanks all the partners, collaborators, funders, health care professionals and parents from across Canada for their contributions to NutriSTEP®.

© 2024 Janis Randall Simpson