Interview with Dr. Meta Van Den Heuvel: King Charles III Coronation Medal Recipient

Dr. Meta Van Den Heuvel is a clinician and researcher who works closely with TARGet Kids!. Due to her clinical work and her commitment to addressing social determinants of health, she was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in October 2024. In this interview, we spoke with Dr. Van Den Heuvel about the insights of her work, the significance of receiving this prestigious honour, and her aspirations for future advancements in child health.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your research. 

 

I am a Staff Pediatrician at the Hospital for Sick Children and an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. My research focuses on early child development and nutrition in relation to social determinants of health in both low- and high- resource settings. In Toronto specifically, I investigate how social determinants can best be addressed in clinical settings. 

 

Q: The primary aim of the TARGet Kids! study is to improve the health of Canadian children. In what ways does your work contribute to our understanding of children's health and well-being in support of this goal? 

 

Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow up, work and live in, and they have a profound effect on children's health. An important social determinant of health is food insecurity. Household food insecurity is highly prevalent in Canadian children (25%) and my work discovered that is also highly prevalent in caregivers with a child admitted to SickKids (34%). Accordingly, I am leading two working groups in SickKids, The Food for Families Working Group and the Medical Financial Working Group, to find solutions to address food insecurity in our setting.  

 

Q: What is a memorable moment from your journey that stands out as significant in leading to this recognition? 

 

Initially, I thought that I could make a change by identifying "numbers" with my research, but I now understand that real change needs to come from designing interventions with others. For this reason, I collaborate with nurses, staff physicians, social workers, resource navigators, dietitians, patient-partners, and others in my work. I have learned a lot from the expertise and experiences of these diverse partners. Together we have been able to design and implement interventions to address food insecurity in our setting. 

 

Q: What does it mean to you to be recognized among your peers in this way? 

 

It is a great honour. I especially enjoyed the ceremony as I had the opportunity to learn about the work of the other recipients, who have all made significant contributions to advancing child health and well-being in Canada. Approximately 20 professionals received this award – Dr. Robin Williams, Dr. Susan Bennett, Dr. Michelle Barton-Forbes and Dr. Eileen de Villa were among them. I felt honoured to be recognized among these leaders.  

 

Q: What are your future goals or upcoming projects now that you have received this honour? 

 

I see this award as motivation to continue my work. My goal is to improve healthcare equity for all children. In other words, I would like to provide healthcare that does not vary in quality because of personal characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, geographic location and socioeconomic status. Although the roots of healthcare inequity stem from social and economic inequality, I believe that equity also needs to be addressed within the healthcare system. Therefore, I am currently exploring healthcare inequities in relation to child and family centered care in the three largest pediatric hospitals in Ontario: The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and McMaster Children’s Hospital.