Local Wellness Policies Research Articles

A National Snapshot of Local School Wellness Policies

The federal mandate for local wellness policies (LWP) provides an unprecedented opportunity to improve schools' practices that support student health, which, in turn, supports academic achievement. With a full agenda and budget challenges, districts need resources and support to turn policies into sustainable practices. The purpose of this study was to assess district policy goals and compare them to the federal mandate and benchmarks of best practices. It is hoped that this information will lead to development of specific assistance in the areas of policy implementation, evaluation, and revision. Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) collected a convenience sample of 256 approved LWP. The sample included districts with small, medium, and large student enrollment from every state (except Hawaii). Policies were compared to federal requirements and the AFHK Wellness Policy Fundamentals, a tool which documents best practices for nutrition and physical activity in schools. Sixty-eight percent of policies sampled were consistent with the mandates set forth in the law. Thirty-two percent did not address 1 or more goal areas set by the federal mandate with 15% not addressing goals for evaluation and monitoring. None of the policies addressed all components of AFHK's Fundamentals. Less than 1% addressed all 4 of the evaluation components. Teacher requirements and training for nutrition and physical education were addressed by 43% and 45% of policies, respectively. This study's findings indicate schools will need assistance to meet each of the mandates provided by the federal mandate. Areas lacking attention in policies, yet essential for sustaining wellness practices, include assurances of qualified staff, opportunities for staff development, and implementation, evaluation, and revision of the policy.

Statewide Assessment of Local Wellness Policies in Pennsylvania Public School Districts

With the passage of the Child Nutrition and Women, Infants, and Children Reauthorization Act of 2004, schools that sponsor school meals programs are required to establish local wellness policies to address childhood obesity. Little is known about how school districts will respond to this mandate, the nature of local wellness policies, and their compliance with this mandate. The objectives of this cross-sectional descriptive study, conducted in early 2007, were to assess local wellness policies established by Pennsylvania public school districts, compare these policies to local wellness policy mandate requirements, and provide information about local wellness policy development and implementation. Local wellness policies were collected from all Pennsylvania public school districts that sponsor school meals programs (N=499). School district representatives also completed and submitted a local wellness policy checklist, providing information about local wellness policy development and implementation. Policy goal data were abstracted and entered into a Microsoft Access database along with local wellness policy data. Frequencies were calculated. All required public school districts (N=499) submitted local wellness policies. Most school district local wellness policies (85.6%-100%) met each mandate requirement (eg, included goals for nutrition education, physical activity, etc.). The most common policy goals were general and may be difficult to measure, suggesting school staff may need assistance developing action plans and measuring policy implementation. Most respondents identified the superintendent (n=377; 75.6%) and school foodservice director (n=301; 60.3%) as responsible for ensuring local wellness policy implementation. Questions remain about feasibility of these district-level personnel to ensure policy implementation at the school level. The ability of local wellness policies to impact childhood obesity will depend on efforts at both the school and district levels to implement and enforce local wellness policies.

School District Approaches to Responding to the Federal Wellness Policy Mandate: Analysis of the Nutrition Components of a Nationally-Representative Sample of Local Wellness Policies

School District Approaches to Responding to the Federal Wellness Policy Mandate: Analysis of the Nutrition Components of a Nationally-Representative Sample of Local Wellness Policies

P15: Show Me Nutrition Education Displays

Objective: Show Me Nutrition Education Displays reach teachers who take nutrition information from the displays into the classroom. Display information supports local school wellness policies. Use of Theory or Research: People may be in various stages of change readiness. Displays expose teachers to messages with the goal of moving them along the continuum to behavior change. (Stages of change model). Target Audience: The target audience is elementary teachers who take the information into the classroom and share with their students or model behaviors for students. Description: The displays are full color bulletin board displays for teachers. They include handouts, references and Points to Ponder information to use with students. Topics include MyPyramid, MyActivity Pyramid, Whole Grains, Snacking, and Healthy Celebrations. Displays are accessed at http://extension.missouri.edu/fnep/nutritiondisplays/index. htm. Evaluation: End-of-school year evaluation addresses effectiveness of displays, use of Points to Ponder in the classroom, teacher willingness to increase nutrition education and change in teacher health behaviors. Change in teacher health behaviors is used as a proxy for determining the extent that teachers are modeling these behaviors in the classroom. Pilot data from 2007 evaluations indicate teachers plan to increase nutrition education (47% of 906 respondents) and change personal health behaviors (73% of 888 respondents). Conclusions and Implications: The displays support school staff in making healthy lifestyle choices and have been incorporated into school wellness policies in several districts in the state. Successful pilot project has been expanded for statewide use with projected production of 300 displays and 11,500 handouts to be distributed. This project is funded in part by USDA’s Food Stamp Program.

O1: Affecting Nutrition-Related Policy Change Beyond the School Setting

Nutrition-related policies in schools have received a fair amount of recent attention. The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 requires school districts participating in the federal school meals programs to implement local school wellness policies It is more challenging to find information on the unique types of policies being implemented in other settings. States supported through CDC's National Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity Prevention (NPAO) program regularly compile information on the nutrition-related policy changes taking place in their states.

School Employees’ Description of the Local Wellness Policy Development Process and Their Impressions of the Wellness Policies

School Employees’ Description of the Local Wellness Policy Development Process and Their Impressions of the Wellness Policies

Local Wellness Policies of School Districts in Pennsylvania

The reader will be able to determine the areas in school wellness policies that are most frequently addressed versus those least addressed and identify possible gaps when evaluating and monitoring the implementation of policies.

Status and Goals of Local School Wellness Policies in Virginia: A Response to the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004

By fall 2006 each school division participating in the National School Lunch Program was mandated to establish a local wellness policy. The study objective was to assess schools’ plans for the policy, including goals for food, nutrition education, and physical activity and evaluation. Surveys were administered to 132 School Health Advisory Board coordinators in Virginia in early 2006; 92 (69.7%) responded. The findings highlight gaps toward meeting minimum requirements for the policy and give guidance on how nutrition educators and researchers can provide expertise to optimize the policy and document progress and impacts on children’s health related to the policy.

Improving Access to School-Based Nutrition Services for Children with Special Health Care Needs

Schools are recognized as a key setting to address the increase in overweight among youth. As part of the coordinated school health model, nutrition services can positively impact the eating habits of America’s school children and play a role in reversing this trend. The requirement for school districts participating in the US Department of Agriculture’s child nutrition programs to implement local wellness policies in the 2006-2007 school year presents opportunities for registered dietitians (RDs) to be directly involved in helping schools create more healthful environments.

Evaluating Implementation and Impact of Local School Wellness Policies

TEXT: The Child Nutrition Act of 2004 requires all local education agencies to establish comprehensive wellness policies for their districts by June 30, 2006. Establishment of the local school wellness policy is only the first step in the school wellness story. One component of these policies that is particularly important is the evaluation piece that will determine best practices and justify additional nutrition promotion measures in the future. Dietetics professionals can play a key role in ensuring implementation and evaluation of these local school wellness policies. Dietitians at Sodexho and the American Dietetic Association partnered to develop a pilot evaluation tool that was tested by Sodexho dietitians in 5 school districts. The evaluation tool focuses on implementation of the nutrition components of the local wellness policy and utilizes numerous resources, including purchase records and use of Sodexho-developed nutrition education materials, as part of the ongoing impact evaluation. This presentation will focus on the lessons learned from development and pilot testing of the evaluative tool. Preliminary results from the implementation evaluation will be presented.

P25: Michigan Team Nutrition Communicates Local Wellness Policy to Schools

P25: Michigan Team Nutrition Communicates Local Wellness Policy to Schools

School Competitive Food Policies: Perceptions of Pennsylvania Public High School Foodservice Directors and Principals

The objectives of this study were to describe the extent, nature, and enforcement of school competitive food policies in Pennsylvania public high schools and to determine if there are differences between school foodservice directors’ and principals’ perceptions of the existence and enforcement of these policies. A survey was distributed to 271 school foodservice directors and 100 principals in a representative, random sample of high schools. Two hundred twenty-eight school foodservice directors (84%) and 79 principals (79%) returned surveys. Descriptive statistics, χ 2 analyses, and a proportions test were done using SPSS statistical software (SPSS base 11.5 for Windows, 2002, SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL). Few nutrition policies were reported related to setting nutritional standards for competitive foods (0.5% to 15.0%). Respondents’ reporting of existence of policies not always enforced ranged from 0% to 12.8%. School foodservice directors reported uncertainty about existence of several policies outside their direct domain, but with potential effect on school meals participation. Differences were found between school foodservice directors’ and principals’ reporting of policies, with principals more often reporting policy existence and enforcement. These findings suggest the need for communication, both about existence of policies and chain of command in enforcement of policies. Given the local wellness policy provision of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, opportunities exist for nutrition professionals to contribute to development of policies that influence the nutritional quality of school foods.

Position of the American Dietetic Association: Local Support for Nutrition Integrity in Schools

It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that the schools and the community have a shared responsibility to provide all students with access to high-quality foods and school-based nutrition services as an integral part of the total education program. Educational goals, including the nutrition goals of the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, should be supported and extended through school district wellness policies that create overall school environments that promote access to healthful school meals and physical activity and provide learning experiences that enable students to develop lifelong healthful eating habits. The National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs are an important source of nutrients for school-age children, and especially for those of low-income status. The American Dietetic Association was actively involved in the 2004 reauthorization of these programs, ensuring access through continued funding, promoting nutrition education and physical activity to combat overweight and prevent chronic disease, and promoting local wellness policies. The standards established for school meal programs result in school meals that provide nutrients that meet dietary guidelines, but standards do not apply to foods and beverages served and sold outside of the school meal. Labeled as competitive foods by the US Department of Agriculture, there is a growing concern that standards should be applied to food in the entire school environment. Legislation has mandated that all school districts that participate in the US Department of Agriculture’s Child Nutrition Program develop and implement a local wellness policy by the school year 2006-2007. Resources are available to assist in the development of wellness policies, and dietetics professionals can assist schools in developing policies that meet nutrition integrity standards.

Local Wellness Policies and the Dietary Guidelines: What Does It Mean to You?

Local Wellness Policies and the Dietary Guidelines: What Does It Mean to You?