For Immediate Release
Contact: Tara Kennon, 312-419-1810
tara@healthyschoolscampaign.org

Principals and Parents Step Forward Together for Student Health
Principals Breakfast for School Wellness Focuses on Strategies

Chicago, Feb. 23, 2007 -- For the first time, Chicago Public Schools principals, community leaders, parents and caregivers came together for a dynamic Principals Breakfast for School Wellness to discuss innovative strategies for improving student health in school and meeting the requirements of the new district-wide wellness policy.

The event was presented by Parents United for Healthy Schools/Padres Unidos Para Escuelas Saludables, a coalition of 22 independent parent organizations brought together by the Healthy Schools Campaign.

The forum comes at a time when more than 17 percent of U.S. children are overweight or obese and an equal number have been diagnosed with asthma. In addition to the alarming national epidemic, Chicago is facing increasing health disparities that leave children in low-income Latino and African-American communities with rates of asthma and obesity more than twice the national average.

In West Town, for example, approximately 28 percent of children experience asthma and 73 percent are overweight or obese. In North Lawndale, approximately 23 percent of children have asthma and 68 percent are overweight or obese.

The breakfast offered a unique opportunity for those who care about Chicago children’s health to unify their efforts to implement the Chicago Public Schools’ new wellness policy. The policy, which CPS adopted in August 2006 in response to a federal mandate, is designed to be implemented at a school level. This means that in order for it to be effective, principals must make decisions that lead to increased healthy food and physical activity in schools.

Parents throughout Chicago have raised questions about the extent to which the wellness policy is being implemented in their children’s schools, often advocating for principals to carry out the policy’s requirements for healthy food and physical activity more extensively.

“When it comes to wellness, we’re all working toward the same goal -- healthy children who are prepared to succeed,” explains Guillermo Gomez, Chicago director for the Healthy Schools Campaign, an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to healthy school environments.

“This breakfast stands out as a unique opportunity for principals and people from the community to sit at the same tables in a collaborative spirit and learn about the changes we can make together so that our kids will be healthy and ready to learn.”

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The Healthy Schools Campaign, an independent not-for-profit organization, is the leading authority on healthy school environments and a voice for people who care about our environment, our children, and education. Our mission is to advocate for policies and model programs that allow students and staff members to learn and work in a healthy school environment.