Lindsey Bouza Schools Coordinator Healthy Communities Division Juliana Hammer Child and Adolescent Program Coordinator Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity

WellSAT: Wellness School Assessment Tool  Who: Yale University’s Rudd Center for Obesity  Where: Connecticut  Why: No standardization/assessment of school wellness policies  How:

Policy Coding Tool 50 items divided among five subscales 1. Nutrition Education & Wellness Promotion 2. Standards for USDA Nutrition Programs 3. Nutrition Guidelines for Competitive Foods 4. Physical Education/Physical Activity 5. Evaluation & Implementation

Three level coding scheme  Code “0” if the item is not addressed at all in the policy  Code “1” if the item is addressed in a vague, suggested, unclear manner (should, suggest, encourage)  Code “2” if the item is addressed in a clear, specific, and directive manner (shall, must, will, require, enforce)

Two Types of Scores  Comprehensiveness– percentage of items addressed in some way  Strength–percentage of areas addressed in a clear and specific manner

Nutrition Education and Wellness Promotion Review Section 1

Nutrition Education 7, 8 “School-based marketing of brands promoting predominantly low-nutrition foods and beverages is prohibited. The promotion of healthy foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low- fat dairy products is encouraged.”

Nutrition Education 9 Meeting Schedule  September 13, 2010 Working Groups  October 11, 2010 Full Committee  November 8, 2010 Working Groups  December 13, 2010 Working Groups  January 10, 2011 Full Committee

School Meal Standards Review Section 2

School Meals Standards 1 “The School Transportation Commissioner has improved on-time morning arrival to 97% which enables more students time to participate in the school breakfast program.”

School Meal Standards 7 “Schools should share information about the nutritional content of meals with parents and students. Such information could be made available on menus, a website, on cafeteria menu boards, placards, or other point- of-purchase materials.”

Standards for Competitive Foods Review Section 3

Nutrition Standards for Other Foods 1  Vending machines at the Middle and High Schools will be locked and/or shut off and inaccessible during the school day (The exception would be in the individual machine contains 100% healthy choices.  Vending in elementary schools may not be accessible to students.

Nutrition Standards for Other Foods 4  “Schools should limit celebrations that involve food during the school day to no more than one party per class per month. Each party should include no more than one food or beverage that does not meet nutrition standards for foods and beverages sold individually. The district will disseminate a list of healthy party ideas to parents and teachers.”

Nutrition Standards for Other Foods 10 “Teachers and staff are not allowed to use food as a reward and meal times are not to be delayed as punishment.”

Physical Education/Physical Activity Review Section 4

PE/Physical Activity 2, 3, 4  All elementary school students are scheduled for at least 60 minutes of physical education instruction per week. Middle School and High School students will be scheduled for at least 90 minutes of physical education instruction per week. With few exceptions all schools currently are meeting the goal of 60 or 90 minutes of physical education instruction.”

PE/Physical Activity 10  Schools should discourage extended periods (i.e., periods of two or more hours) of inactivity. When activities, such as mandatory school-wide testing, make it necessary for students to remain indoors for long periods of time, schools should give students periodic breaks during which they are encouraged to stand and be moderately active.”

Evaluation and Implementation Review Section 5

Evaluation 4 “Review of the Wellness Policy and Action Steps will be done Quarterly by the Corporation Wellness Committee. On an Annual Basis, the Wellness Committee will revise the Policy for presentation to the School Board.”

WellSAT scores  Score reflects solely the language in the policy, NOT the current status of implementation of healthy initiatives in the schools.  Schools may have healthy practices instituted, but if they are not documented in the policy, they could not be scored. Points Possible200 Average Across 23 School Corporations 68 Range of Scores9-131

Questions or Comments?

After scoring:  Present it to the CSHAC/school board  Add current activities to your wellness policy  Make improvements to the wellness policy  Use this to track progress throughout the years  Use to compare to other school corporations/school districts

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