A. Integrating Physical Activity into Classroom Settings
For students to receive the nationally recommended amount of daily physical activity and for students to fully embrace regular physical activity as a personal behavior, students need opportunities for physical activity beyond the physical education class. Toward that end, the school district will:
- offer classroom health education that complements physical education by reinforcing the knowledge and self-management skills needed to maintain a physically active lifestyle and to reduce time spent on sedentary activities;
- discourage sedentary activities, such as watching television, playing computer games, etc.;
- provide opportunities for physical activity to be incorporated into other subject lessons; and,
- encourage classroom teachers to provide short physical activity breaks between lessons or classes, as appropriate.
B. Communication with Parents
The school district will support parents’ efforts to provide a healthy diet and daily physical activity for their children. The school district will:
- offer healthy eating seminars for parents, send home nutrition information, post nutrition tips on school web sites and provide nutrient analyses of school menus;
- encourage parents to pack healthy lunches and snacks and to refrain from including beverages and foods that do not meet the established nutrition standards for individual foods and beverages;
- provide parents a list of foods that meet the school district’s snack standards and ideas for healthy celebrations/parties, rewards and fundraising activities;
- provide opportunities for parents to share their healthy food practices with others in the school community;
- provide information about physical education and other school-based physical activity opportunities before, during and after the school day;
- support parents’ efforts to provide their children with opportunities to be physically active outside of school; and,
- include sharing information about physical activity and physical education through a web site, newsletter, other take-home materials, special events or physical education homework.
C. Food Marketing in Schools
School-based marketing will be consistent with nutrition education and health promotion. The school district will:
- limit food and beverage marketing to the promotion of foods and beverages that meet the nutrition standards for meals or for foods and beverages sold individually;
- prohibit school-based marketing of brands promoting predominantly low-nutrition foods and beverages;
- promote healthy foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products; and
- market activities that promote healthful behaviors (and are therefore allowable) including: vending machine covers promoting water; pricing structures that promote healthy options in ala carte lines; sales of fruit for fundraisers.
Examples include marketing techniques include the following: logos and brand names on/in vending machines, books or curricula, textbook covers, school supplies, scoreboards, school structures, and sports equipment; educational incentive programs that provide food as a reward; programs that provide schools with supplies when families buy low-nutrition food products; in-school television, such as Channel One; free samples or coupons; and food sales through fundraising activities.
D. Staff Wellness
The school district values the health and well-being of every staff member and will plan and implement activities and policies that support personal efforts by staff to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Each school should:
- establish and maintain a staff wellness committee
- develop, promote and oversee a multifaceted plan to promote staff health and wellness developed by the staff wellness committee;
- base the plan on input solicited from employees and outline ways to encourage healthy eating, physical activity and other elements of a healthy lifestyle among employees.
Approved August 27, 2018
Reviewed November 28, 2022
Revised November 28, 2022
