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Healthier Children - Wellness Policies & ProgramsBetter Nutrition | Obesity & Inactivity | Wellness Policies & Programs As the American public has become increasingly aware of the obesity epidemic and the associated health risks a significant amount of energy has gone into creating policies and programs to reverse the trend and to break its cycle by targeting wellness – preventive measures that promote good health. Presented here are a sampling of federal, state and local policies and programs that have implications for, and should be of interest to, every community or community group interested in wellness policies and programs. Since most of the website focuses on physical activity, the emphasis here is on policies and programs that encourage healthy eating. Of significant import is Public Law 108-265, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004. This law requires all local education agencies participating in the National School Lunch Program to establish a school wellness policy by June 2006. Local policies must include goals for nutrition education, physical activity and other school based activities that are designed to promote student wellness. Development of the policy must involve parents, students, and representatives of the school food authority, the school board, school administrators and the public. This provides a great opportunity for community dialogue and input on everything from the school lunch program to how much activity is provided throughout the school day. Many schools and communities are developing wellness policies that include Safe Routes to School Programs, food preparation classes and the inclusion of local fresh fruits and vegetables. Read more about this law and the Local Policy Requirements at the U.S. Department of Agriculture “Team Nutrition” website. Taking Action If you are looking to develop or evaluate your own policy the Action For Healthy Kids Policy Tool, will be of great interest. With this tool an individual district can construct its own policy by cutting and pasting language from existing or model policies that have been gathered from states and districts around the country. If you are looking for inspiration, encouragement and ideas you can borrow from schools that have successfully implemented a variety of approaches and strategies to improved student nutrition take a look at Making it Happen, School Nutrition Success Stories. If you are a parent (or parent organization) fed up with the sale of junk food in your child’s school and want to take action, you may want to know about “Parents Against Junk Food”. This is an organization devoted to eliminating junk food from the public school system. “No sodas. No chips. No candy bars. No processed lunch or foods of minimal value.” This organization offers healthy recipes, a newsletter as well as support and guidance on how to take action. Local Implementation Stories, Spotlight On Cincinnati,
Ohio Additional Resources - Assessing Recess: A new survey from Sports4Kids (sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) shows that Americans generally agree that school recess is in peril and that life-long habits and skills that affect the health and development of children form on the playground.
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