School Wellness Policies
History & Definition
In passing the Child Nutrition and WIC (Women, Infants and Children program) Reauthorization Act of 2004, Congress mandated that all school districts participating in federal school meal programs create and implement school wellness policies by July 2006. These policies must address nutrition education, nutrition standards for foods sold, and physical activity, and must include measures for evaluating the policy’s effectiveness.
Although the law requires that schools develop, implement and evaluate wellness policies, it does not provide guidelines for creating the policies. In response to local school districts’ requests for guidance, the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity (NANA), convened more than 50 health, physical activity, nutrition, and education professionals to develop a set of model policies that adhere to federal requirements. These are available online.
Resources for assistance in writing effective school wellness policies:
- Text of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004.
- Action for Healthy Kids, founded by former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, offers a toolkit for writing wellness policies.
- The School Nutrition Association provides comprehensive information on the implementation dates for the many provisions included in the bill so that the public can clearly track progress over time.
Learn More about the Development of the Coding Tool for Abstracting Connecticut School Wellness Policies
This Connecticut version of the Coding Tool was adapted from the Coding Tool for Abstracting School Wellness Policies developed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Healthy Eating Research Program. The working group responsible for the coding system includes Marlene Schwartz (Connecticut), Anne Lund and Mollie Greves (Washington), Elaine McDonnell and Claudia Probart (Pennsylvania), and Anne Samuelson and Leslie Lytle (Minnesota).
In 2006, all school districts participating in the National School Lunch Program were required to develop a written School Wellness Policy. This instrument was designed to be a common and reliable method for abstracting and evaluating school wellness policies within and across states.
The coding of Connecticut school wellness policies was done at Yale University by Jennifer Falbe, MPH; Kathryn Henderson, PhD; Michael Long; Sarah Novak, PhD; Meghan O’Connell, MPH; Marlene Schwartz, PhD; and Christopher Wharton, PhD.
Do Wellness Policies Work?
Does a good wellness policy, or any wellness policy, make for a healthier school environment? Researchers at the Rudd Center have set out to test this question. Stay tuned for results.