De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre Launches a New App for Water Does Wonders!
July 4, 2017
Written by Christina Vlahopoulos, Healthy Kids Community Challenge Local project Coordinator for De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre.
De Dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre (DAHC) of Hamilton and Brantford, Ontario, is pleased to announce the launch of a new HKCC Water does Wonders App!
It is known that too much screen time contributes to poor health outcomes in children. We wanted to develop a resource for children that would capture their attention in the virtual arena. By creating a display for children and youth we can promote the message of Water Does Wonders in an appealing way for children.
This app is used by families waiting for their appointments at the Health Centre, but can be adapted as a tool for the promotion of choosing water over sugary sweetened beverages for diverse populations. The app is popular because the graphics and trivia-oriented games appeal to kids.
In order to create the app, we contracted a group of Computer Systems Technology students from Mohawk College who created the app outside of their school studies. These innovative students started a company called M4 Web Development and they developed the app and the images used to depict the sugary sweetened beverages in about 5 months.
The end product is a fun free interactive tool to see if the user can guess how much sugar is in some commonly consumed beverages, like pop and juices. It is available to all HKCC communities and anyone interested in downloading the App. It is currently available on the App store for iPhones and iPads.
View/download the app in iTunes here.
For more information, contact:
Christina Vlahopoulos at healthykids@dahac.ca.