Active Healthy Kids India

WHAT IS AHKI?

A non-profit organization whose aim is to:

Connect researchers, educators, and decision-makers interested in children's active living.
Advocate for active living and related health outcomes for children and youth in India.
Partner with research and other groups worldwide to enable knowledge exchange to improve the health of children and youth in India.

whatisakhi

HOW DOES AHKI HELP IMPROVE ACTIVE LIVING?

Researchers, educators, program planners, and policy-makers across India have been doing incredible work to improve access to physical activity resources and education for children and youth. In an effort to connect these leaders and community workers, AHKI provides a platform for anyone interested in active living to network and share resources.

AHKI applies for international grants in collaboration with research teams across India
to enable this important work.

Team

Jasmin Bhawra, AHKI Co-Founder and Chair

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Dr. Jasmin Bhawra is an Assistant Professor in the School of Occupational and Public Health at Toronto Metropolitan University, and Director of the CHANGE Research Lab. As a population health researcher and program evaluator, she leads health initiatives focused on mental health, physical activity, food sovereignty, and climate change.

Using mixed methods digital health innovations, her research prioritizes historically disenfranchised or disadvantaged populations, including BIPOC communities, children and youth. She uses her evaluation and knowledge mobilization expertise to inform health policy across low-, middle- and high-income countries via the Global Report Cards on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. She has worked with public health units, non-profit organizations, and the Hospital for Sick Children coordinating research, and leading health program evaluations. Dr. Bhawra is co-founder of Active Healthy Kids India, a non-profit organization that influences, and advocates for active living research and practice.

Twitter: @DrJasminBhawra @ChangeResLab @ActiveKidsIndia

Tarun Katapally, AHKI Co-Founder and India Report Card Leader

London, Ontario, Canada

Professor Katapally is a physician and patient-oriented research leader who established the Digital Epidemiology and Population Health Laboratory (DEPtH Lab) in 2017 to develop a sustainable program of digital health research by scaling up the Smart Platform.

Smart is a citizen science and digital epidemiological platform, which uses big data for one integrated outcome: health equity by addressing existing and emerging population health crises. In essence, Smart Platform enables the engineering of digital health solutions by harnessing the power of big data, with an emphasis on ethical citizen engagement, data sovereignty, and Internet equity. Dr. Katapally’s team conceptualizes, develops, and implements digital health platforms by intersecting citizen science and social innovation.

One of the key objectives of DEPtH Lab is to build capacity of high-quality training personnel to develop societal solutions in these areas: Active living; Child and youth health; Climate change; Food security and sovereignty; Global health; Indigenous health; Infectious diseases; Mental health; Substance misuse.

Anuradha Khadilkar, Pune Study Lead

Pune, Maharashtra, India

Dr. Anuradha Khadilkar is a paediatrician with experience treating children for over 30 years. She also has over 25 years of experience in clinical research and nutrition (with special reference to bone health), growth, and Type 1 Diabetes. She has been involved in creating normative data for Indian children for various parameters including for height, weight, and body composition. Dr. Khadilkar is an enthusiastic teacher who has mentored/co-mentored over 20 PhD students. She is currently working on many projects which involve growing children, pregnant mothers, and children with diabetes. Her social cause is Type 1 Diabetes, and alongside her team, she has been supporting underprivileged children with diabetes since 2010. Her team now supports close to 600 children and youth with diabetes, a project very close to her heart.

Krishnaveni Ghattu V, Mysuru Study Lead

Mysuru, Karnataka, India

Dr. GV Krishnaveni is a Senior Scientist with the Epidemiology Research Unit at the CSI Holdsworth Memorial Hospital in Mysuru. Her research focuses on understanding the influence of maternal and offspring lifecourse factors, including nutritional status on development of adult non-communicable disease. Her research interests include anthropometry and body composition, developing and testing dietary and physical activity methods, and assessing cardiometabolic and psychological wellbeing and stress responses in children and adolescents.

Kumaran Kalyanaraman, Mysuru Study Investigator

Mysuru, Karnataka, India

Dr. Kalyanaraman is the Indian Principal Investigator of the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative, a multi-country collaboration to address non-communicable disease risk based on DOHaD (developmental origins of health and disease) concepts. His research focuses on the application of multi-faceted, evidence-based population level interventions to improve fetal growth and long-term health using a lifecourse approach. His current projects include a community-based pre-conceptional micronutrient supplementation trial to influence programming of diabesity in the next generation in Pune, as well as a community-based supplementation trial of micronutrient rich food among slum dwellers in Mumbai.

Prasanna Kannan, PhD(c) Trainee

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Prasanna is a public health professional, a social worker, and a doctoral student at the University of Regina. She has worked in Central and state governments, World Health Organization, non-profit organizations, and a tertiary hospital for over a decade to implement public health programs and led health program evaluation. Presently, she works under the supervision of Dr.Katapally in the DEPtH Lab in utilizing innovative digital epidemiological tools to develop policy recommendations for promoting mental health. She is passionate about community-based participatory research to promote physical and mental health and addressing substance use among children and youth using the innovative Smart Platform.

Nadine Elsahli, Knowledge Translation Lead

London, Ontario, Canada

Nadine Elsahli is an undergraduate student in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Western University. She is pursuing an Honours Specialization in Health Sciences and a Minor in Psychology. Nadine enjoys learning about the interdisciplinary nature of health studies, and recently joined AHKI for shared interest in disadvantaged population health and the social determinants affecting active living. She has experience in the creation of multimedia dissemination devices, community-engaged learning, and content creation for knowledge promotion.

members

smart india

The Smart India initiative is an extension of the Canadian SMART Study, which uses innovative, digital citizen science and smartphone-based methods to understand the relationship between upstream policies and physical activity. Data obtained from this project will fill critical evidence gaps on various indicators of active living as identified by the India Report Cards on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. SMART India data will also contribute to the development of future India Report Cards, which will be part of a Global Report Card comparing evidence across more than 60 countries.

Cities currently enrolled in the SMART India initiative:

MYSURU

CHENNAI

KOCHI

PUNE

To get involved, contact Dr. Jasmin Bhawra: jasmin.bhawra@ryerson.ca

smart india