Parents

Welcome to the CNP Parent page! We are dedicated to supporting parents by providing information and education on how dietary intake patterns can influence our youth’s mood and mental health.

CNP’s mission is to combine research findings from the disciplines of psychology, nutrition, and integrative health (along with sprinkles of inspiration) to develop innovative educational curriculum to help youth choose positive mental-health food choices. Within today’s Western dietary landscape, the approach of “Eat your broccoli — it’s good for you!” isn’t working. More sophisticated tools are needed for helping youth make positive food choices that support their mood and mental health.

As noted by Francis et al. (2019), adolescence and young adulthood is a critical period for establishing healthy eating habits, and dietary improvements during this time have the potential to reduce risk of depression and provide other physical health benefits throughout the lifespan. If you are a researcher, mental health professional, or parent working to understand how food is impacting your child’s mental well-being, we invite you to use the CNP Resource Library to keep up with what’s being discovered around the world in this area. We also invite you to notify us of interesting studies, books, articles, media, or educational programs for consideration by using our online submission form located on the Resources page.