A project committed to the acceptance of a realistic and positive body image among adolescents

In an era where performance and beauty have become the leading criteria for success, teenagers are confronted, on a daily basis, with tremendous pressure that pushes them to try as far as possible to meet the requirements conveyed by the media and society in general. It was essentially based on this premise that medical students at the Université de Montréal and McGill University established the Fiers et en forme (F&F) project. Structured around preventive workshops divided into three parts, the central theme of which is body image, the project is presented free of charge to groups of teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 of both genders in educational and community settings. To date, the initiative has reached out to almost 550 young people at three Montréal high schools and three youth centres in its first year of existence.

A project committed to raising awareness among youth of the importance of sexual health

Today, with the current outbreak of sexually-transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) and now that high school sex education classes have been abolished, the arrival of a group such as Sexperts in the world of 12 to 17 year old youth is greeted like a breath of fresh air! Initiated by students in the health sciences at Université Laval, the Sexperts committee offers interactive awareness and information activities, which prompt young people to address certain issues and to seek answers to their questions. Established in 2006, every year the group organizes lectures on subjects such as pregnancy, STBBI, sexual diversity, contraceptive methods, the date rape drug, adolescent sexuality, and so forth. Sexperts meets with more than a thousand high school students throughout the Québec City area annually and is also involved within the student community at Université Laval by offering, among other things, lectures and screening workshops.

A project committed to improving the oral health of toddlers

Because it is essential that oral health begin at the same time as a child’s very first smiles, four third-year students in the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill University decided to set up a project aimed at providing young parents and all other caregivers with information about the various problems related to the oral health of toddlers. Alarmed by the shockingly high statistic that early childhood cavities affect 42% of Québec children by the time they start kindergarten, the four students wanted to immediately do something to remedy the situation despite their very hectic schedules. Their Bright Smiles initiative became a collaborative project that has led to the publication of an informational pamphlet and a “how to” video on oral health for toddlers.