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Guidelines
When developing wellness policies, plans and programs,
schools should reference one of several authoritative national guidelines
listed below. These documents set standards for school food, physical
activity and in some cases nutrition education that schools can
use as a reference for their own programs. The Healthy Schools Campaign
recommends that whatever guidelines schools choose to reference,
these guidelines should not be regarded as limits, but rather as
a starting point for developing the highest, most health-promoting
standard possible for their circumstances.
Many state laws, policies and guidelines are applicable
to school food, physical activity, nutrition education and related
issues. Schools should be familiar with their local requirements.
A frequently updated database is maintained by the National
Association of State Boards of Education  .
National Guidelines
As the
nation's leading public health agency, the CDC is one of the most
respected and proven resources for fighting illness and staying
well. The CDC has developed some of the most comprehensive health
promoting guidelines for schools, covering nutritional quality
of food and beverages sold on campus; time for lunch; nutrition
education and promotion, and physical activity and education,
which are the basis for the recommendations of other health and
education leaders. To download a copy of the CDC's nutrition and
physical education recommendations, see Documents and Resources.
In 2001 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released
The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight
and Obesity.
This document outlines strategies that communities can use in helping
to address these problems. Those options include requiring physical
education at all school grades, providing more healthy food options
on school campuses, and providing safe and accessible recreational
facilities for residents of all ages. To read the full report, visit
The
Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight
and Obesity.
Nearly everyone is familiar with the USDA's “Food Pyramid,”
but most people aren’t aware that it is the basis for the
nutritional standards used in the federally funded National School
Lunch Program. These standards primarily relate to the maximum calories
from fat (<30%) and calories from saturated fats (<10%), along
with an analysis of the total calories, protein, calcium, iron,
Vitamin A and Vitamin D. The guidelines also include a recommendation
that children and adolescents participate in at least 60 minutes
of moderate intensity physical activity most days of the week, preferably
daily. To download a complete pdf, visit the
USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose
mission is: "Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and
stroke." The AHA has developed dietary recommendations for infants, children
and adolescents to promote cardiovascular health. American Heart Association has posted authoritative Dietary Guidelines for Healthy Children on their website, along with links to a nutrition chart
for children and other tools and publications.
AHG is a collaboration between the American Heart Association and
the William J. Clinton Foundation, along with Arkansas Gov. Mike
Huckabee (R-Ark.) with the goal of stopping the nationwide increase
in childhood obesity by 2010. Under Clinton's leadership, AHG brokered
the creation of voluntary standards for food and snacks sold in
schools that has been endorsed by over 400 snack manufacturers and
suppliers worldwide. For more information on the foundation, visit
the
Alliance for a Healthier Generation.
To download a copy of these standards for competitive foods, see
Documents and Resources.
NANA is an alliance of more than 50 national and state organizations.
In response to federal legislation that mandated that schools have
wellness policies in place by July 2006, NANA has developed and
widely distributed a model school wellness policy that sets a very
high standard of quality for food sold at school, physical activity,
nutrition education, staff wellness and parent engagement. To read
more about NANA, visit their
website.
To download a copy of the NANA model school wellness policy, see
Documents and Resources.
The IOM has just issued a new report, Nutrition
Standards for Foods in Schools: Leading the Way Toward Healthier
Youth,
which concludes that federally-reimbursable school nutrition programs
should be the main source of nutrition at school, and opportunities
for competitive foods should be limited. However, if competitive
foods are available, they should consist of nutritious fruits, vegetables,
whole grains, and nonfat or low-fat milk and dairy products, consistent
with the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). For a downloadable
copy of the report brief, see Documents
and Resources. The complete report can be purchased
at National
Academies Press.
National Standards for Beginning Physical Education
Teachers
The National
Association for Sport and Physical Education, in association
of the American Alliance for
Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance has developed
a template for the knowledge, skills and dispositions that all
beginning physical education teachers should possess and be able
to demonstrate in practice. The document covers content knowledge,
curricula, motivation, classroom management and teaching skills.
For a copy of the 2003 standards, see Documents and Resources.
ASA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness
of the importance of after school programs and advocating for quality,
affordable programs for all children. It is supported by a group
of public, private and nonprofit organizations that share the Alliance's
vision of ensuring that all children have access to after school
programs by 2010. For more information, visit the After
School Alliance.
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Five Ways