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Improving Nutrition and Physical Activity May Help a School's Financial Bottom Line; Washington Organization Takes Action to Help Schools Improve Student Health

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 February 2005, 12:00 CST

Although educators and parents have long believed in the merits of good nutrition, most of America's youth do not eat well and have inactive lifestyles. A new report just released reveals that improving nutrition and physical activity may not only help a school's academic standing, it may improve its financial bottom line.

The report, "The Learning Connection: The Value of Improving Nutrition and Physical Activity in Our Schools", documents how the excessive rise in poor nutrition, inactivity, and weight problems is adversely affecting academic achievement and could be costing schools millions of dollars each year. The report calls on schools to work with partners to take immediate action to address the issue.

Washington Action for Healthy Kids is releasing the report, written by its parent organization, the national non-profit Action for Healthy Kids, to commemorate its second anniversary. Action for Healthy Kids addresses the epidemic of overweight, undernourished, and sedentary youth by focusing on changes at the school level. The Washington State Team's goals are to assist school districts in developing quality policies that ensure all food and beverages available on school campuses and at school events are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Washington is also working to ensure all children receive age-appropriate and culturally sensitive instruction in health education and engage in daily physical activity.

"Schools alone cannot solve the problem of childhood obesity but they can and should have a positive influence on children's eating and physical activity behaviors," said Shelley Curtis of Children's Alliance and AFHK Subcommittee Co-Chair.

Costs to Schools

While "The Learning Connection" cautions that more research is needed to understand the link between poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and academic achievement, it makes a strong case that these factors have an adverse effect on academic performance. For example:

-- Physical activity programs are linked to stronger academic achievement, increased concentration, and improved math, reading, and writing test scores.

-- Schools with high percentages of students who did not routinely engage in physical activity or eat well had smaller gains in test scores than other schools.

-- Children not getting adequate nutrients have lower test scores, increased absenteeism, difficulty concentrating, and lower energy levels.

Helping Schools Take Action

"The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004" passed in June of 2004 makes it mandatory that every school district produce a local wellness policy. The Wellness Policies should include: goals for nutrition education, physical activity, and other school-based activities designed to promote student wellness. In the last legislative session, Washington State passed Senate Bill 5436 which mandates that the Washington State School Directors Association draft a sample policy addressing access to nutritious foods, opportunities for developmentally appropriate exercise, and accurate information related to these topics by January 2005. Each school district will be responsible to develop its own nutrition and physical activity policy by August 2005. To see the sample policy visit:

http://www.wssda.org/wssda/WebForms/En-Us/News/20041215_nutrition. asp.

(Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field.)

Districts throughout Washington are already taking action. Seattle Public Schools adopted a comprehensive district-wide nutrition policy that provides strong nutrition standards and portion size guidelines for all foods and beverages sold outside the school meal program. It also provides guidance for increasing access to and improving the quality of the school meal programs. Using food as an incentive or reward is discouraged.

Winner of the Washington State School Board Challenge, Olympia School District, passed District Nutrition Standards which prohibit the sale of soda and candy during the school day and outline strict criteria on vended and non-vended foods sold in competition with the school meal programs. Candy given as a classroom reward is also strongly discouraged.

Everett School District has nutrition standards for portion sizes and the availability of fruits and vegetables in the schools. Standards also set for fat, saturated fat and sugar content of foods and beverages, including coffee, at the high school level.

"Involve the community and other stakeholders within the district in the process. The process takes time. Compromises are inevitable but children's health should always be the top priority. Money should not be an excuse for promoting an unhealthy lifestyle," says Shelley Curtis of Children's Alliance and Action for Healthy Kids.

It is in schools' own best interest to improve the nutrition and physical activity environments that are in their control. The good news is that schools do not have to do this alone. There are community partners like Washington Action for Healthy Kids willing to collaborate to help find and implement solutions.

CALL TO ACTION! This is a critical time for parents, advocates, health and nutrition professionals and community members to get involved at the local level in helping to shape the development of district policies. Contact your local school board members today and request to be apart of the process!

About Action for Healthy Kids

Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) is a national, non-profit organization addressing the epidemic of overweight, undernourished and sedentary youth by focusing on changes at school. AFHK is a public-private partnership of more than 40 national organizations and government agencies representing education, health, fitness and nutrition, which support and accelerate the efforts of 51 AFHK State Teams (including all states and the District of Columbia) made up of thousands of volunteers.

For More Information

To download the Learning Connection and to learn more about how to become a member of the Action for Healthy Kids Washington State Team, visit www.ActionForHealthyKids.org.

To find local advocates for kids that can act as your districts resource when developing nutrition standards in your area visit www.HealthySchoolsWA.org.

Take a look at what is already been done:

Seattle Public Schools:

www.seattleschools.org/area/policies/e/index.xml

Olympia School District:

http://osd.wednet.edu/board/policies/3000/3405

Everett School District:

www.everett.k12.wa.us/everett/News#board

Source: Business Wire

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