Wellness Policy

Holy Family School’s Wellness Policies on Physical Activity and Nutrition
Preamble

Holy Family School is committed to providing school environments that promote and protect children’s health, well-being, and ability to learn by supporting healthy eating and physical activity.  Therefore, it is the policy of Holy Family School that:

  • Nutrition articles and recipes will regularly be in the family newsletter to help educate parents and students.
  • The school district will engage students, parents, teachers, food service professionals, health professionals, and other interested community members in developing, implementing, monitoring, and reviewing nutrition policies.
  • All students in grades K-12 will have opportunities, support, and encouragement to be physically active on a regular basis.
  • Foods and beverages sold or served at school will meet the nutrition recommendations of the S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
  • Qualified child nutrition professionals will provide students with access to a variety of nutritious, and appealing foods that meet the health and nutrition needs of students; will accommodate the religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the student body in meal planning; and will provide clean, safe, and pleasant settings and adequate time for students to eat.
  • Holy Family School will provide nutrition education and physical education to foster lifelong habits of healthy eating and physical activity, and will establish linkages between health education and school meal programs.
  • Lindsay Holy Family School will provide posted nutrition information throughout the elementary and secondary buildings.

TO ACHIEVE THESE POLICY GOALS:

  1. Nutritional Quality of Foods and Beverages Sold and Served on Campus

School Meals

Meals served through the National School Lunch will:

  • be appealing and attractive to children;
  • be served in clean and pleasant settings;
  • meet nutrition requirements established by local, state, and federal statutes and regulations;
  • offer a variety of fruits and vegetables;
  • serve only low-fat (1%) and fat-free milk and nutritionally-equivalent non-dairy alternatives (to be defined by USDA); and
  • ensure that half of the served grains are whole grain.

Free and Reduced-priced Meals.  Holy Family School will make every effort to eliminate any social stigma attached to, and prevent the overt identification of, students who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals[1].

Qualifications of School Food Service Staff.  Qualified professionals will administer Holy Family School meal programs.  As part of the school’s responsibility to operate a food service program, we will provide continuing professional development for all nutrition professionals in schools.  Staff development programs should include appropriate certification and/or training programs for child nutrition directors, school nutrition managers, and cafeteria workers, according to their levels of responsibility.

Sharing of Foods and Beverages.  Student’s should be discouraged from sharing their foods or beverages with one another during meal or snack times, given concerns about allergies and other restrictions on some children’s diets.

Snacks.  Snacks served during the school day will make a positive contribution to children’s diets and health, with an emphasis on serving fruits and vegetables as the primary snacks and water as the primary beverage.  Schools will assess if and when to offer snacks based on timing of school meals, children’s nutritional needs, children’s ages, and other considerations.

III. Nutrition and Physical Activity Promotion and Food Marketing

Nutrition Education and Promotion.  Holy Family School aims to teach, encourage, and support healthy eating by students.  Holy Family School should provide nutrition education and engage in nutrition promotion that:

  • is offered at multiple grade levels as part of a sequential, comprehensive, standards-based program designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote and protect their health;
  • is part of not only health education classes, but also classroom instruction in subjects such as math, science, language arts, social sciences, and elective subjects;
  • promotes fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat dairy products, healthy food preparation methods, and health-enhancing nutrition practices;

Integrating Physical Activity into the Classroom Setting.  For students to receive the nationally-recommended amount of daily physical activity (i.e., at least 60 minutes per day) and for students to fully embrace regular physical activity as a personal behavior, students need opportunities for physical activity beyond physical education class.  Toward that end:

  • classroom health education will complement 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, such as watching television or playing electronics;
  • opportunities for physical activity will be incorporated into other subject lessons; and
  • classroom teachers will provide short physical activity breaks between lessons or classes, as appropriate.

Communications with Parents.  Holy Family School will support parents’ efforts to provide a healthy diet and daily physical activity for their children.  Holy Family School will provide regular nutrition articles/recipes in monthly parent mailings.

Staff Wellness.  Holy Family School highly 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 staff member will participate in EHA (Educator Health Alliance) program that offers exercise, nutrition and health information and activities.  EHA Wellness Program will provide members opportunities to improve and manage their health.  EHA offers its program at no charger.  The first phase of the program consists of developing a supportive work environment and creating a wellness team, which will help in the delivery of wellness programs and services.

Participants in the program will complete a personal health assessment (PHA) to provide feedback to each individual and determine strengths, health risks, interests, and ways to achieve optimal health.

  1. Physical Activity Opportunities and Physical Education

Daily Physical Education (P.E.) 1-12.  All students in grades 1-12 will receive recommended physical education.  A certified physical education teacher will teach all physical education classes.  Students will spend at least 50 percent of physical education class time participating in moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Daily Recess.  All Holy Family Elementary school students will have at least 20 minutes a day of supervised recess, preferably outdoors, during which schools should encourage moderate to vigorous physical activity verbally and through the provision of space and equipment.

Holy Family School Staff 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.

Use of School Facilities Outside of School Hours.  Holy Family School spaces and facilities should be available to students, staff, and community members before, during, and after the school day, on weekends, and during school vacations. These spaces and facilities also should be available to community agencies and organizations offering physical activity and nutrition programs.  School policies concerning safety will apply at all times.

  1. Monitoring and Policy Review

Monitoring.  The Holy Family Principal will ensure compliance with established district-wide nutrition and physical activity wellness policies.  School food service staff, at the school or district level, will ensure compliance with nutrition policies within school food service areas and will report on this matter to the principal.

  1. Resources for Local School Wellness Policies on Nutrition and Physical Activity

School Health Councils:

Nutrition:

      General Resources on Nutrition

School Meals

Nutrition Standards for Foods and Beverages Sold Individually

Fruit and Vegetable Promotion in Schools

Fundraising Activities

Snacks

  • Healthy School Snacks, (forthcoming), Center for Science in the Public Interest
  • Materials to Assist After-school and Summer Programs and Homeless Shelters in Using the Child Nutrition Programs (website), Food Research and Action Center, <frac.org/html/building_blocks/afterschsummertoc.html>

Rewards

Celebrations

Nutrition and Physical Activity Promotion and Food Marketing

Health Education

Nutrition Education and Promotion

Integrating Physical Activity into the Classroom Setting

Food Marketing to Children

  • Pestering Parents: How Food Companies Market Obesity to Children, Center for Science in the Public Interest, <cspinet.org/pesteringparents>

Eating Disorders

Staff Wellness

  • School Staff Wellness, National Association of State Boards of Education [link to pdf]
  • Healthy Workforce 2010: An Essential Health Promotion Sourcebook for Employers, Large and Small,  Partnership for Prevention, <prevent.org/publications/Healthy_Workforce_2010.pdf>
  • Well Workplace Workbook: A Guide to Developing Your Worksite Wellness Program, Wellness Councils of America, <welcoa.org/wellworkplace/index.php?category=7>
  • Protecting Our Assets: Promoting and Preserving School Employee Wellness, (forthcoming), Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE)

Physical Activity Opportunities and Physical Education:

General Resources on Physical Activity

  • Guidelines for School and Community Programs to Promote Lifelong Physical Activity among Young People, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, <cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00046823.htm>
  • Healthy People 2010: Physical Activity and Fitness, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports,

<www.healthypeople.gov/document/HTML/Volume2/22Physical.htm#_Toc490380803>

Physical Education

      Recess

      Physical Activity Opportunities Before and After School

  • The Case for High School Activities, National Federation of State High School Associations,

<www.nfhs.org/scriptcontent/va_custom/vimdisplays/contentpagedisplay.cfm?content_id=71>

      Safe Routes to School

Monitoring and Policy Review:

The following organizations assisted with or supported
the development of these model policies:

Action for Healthy Kids of Illinois

<www.actionforhealthykids.org/AFHK/team_center/team_public_view.php?team=IL&Submit=Go>

Advocacy Institute

<www.advocacy.org>

Advocates for Better Children’s Diets

<www.nchapman.com/abcd.html>

American Cancer Society

<www.cancer.org>

American Dental Association

<www.ada.org/public/topics/diet.asp>

American Diabetes Association

<www.diabetes.org>

American Dietetic Association

<www.eatright.org>

American Public Health Association

<www.apha.org>

American School Health Association

<www.ashaweb.org>

American Society of Bariatric Physicians

<www.asbp.org>

Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors

<www.astphnd.org>

Be Active New York State

<www.BeActiveNYS.org>

California Center for Public Health Advocacy

<www.publichealthadvocacy.org>

California Food Policy Advocates

<www.cfpa.net>

Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health

<www.cbeach.org>

Center for Informed Food Choices

<www.informedeating.org>

Center for Science in the Public Interest

<www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy>

Chronic Disease Directors

<www.chronicdisease.org>
Community Food Security Coalition

<www.foodsecurity.org>

Community Health Partnership (OR)

<www.communityhealthpartnership.org>
Council of Chief State School Officers

<www.ccsso.org/schoolhealth>

Elyria City Health District (OH)

<www.elyriahealth.com>

Fitness Forward Foundation

<www.fitnessforward.org>
The Food Trust (PA)

<www.thefoodtrust.org/php/programs/comp.school.nutrition.php>

George Washington Cancer Institute

<www.gwumc.edu/gwci>

Harvard Prevention Research Center

<www.hsph.harvard.edu/prc>

Harvard School of Public Health, Partnerships for Children’s Health

Healthy Schools Campaign

<www.healthyschoolscampaign.org>

Howard University Cancer Center

<www.med.howard.edu/hucc>
Hunter College in the City University of New York, Program in Urban Public Health

<www.hunter.cuny.edu/schoolhp/nfs/index.htm>
Institute for America’s Health

<www.healthy-america.org>

I4 Learning

<www.i4learning.com>

Kids First

<www.kidsfirstri.org>
Louisiana Public Health Institute

<www.lphi.org>
Muskegon Community Health Project (MI)

<www.mchp.org>

National Association for Health and Fitness

<www.physicalfitness.org>

National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE)

<www.naspeinfo.org/template.cfm?template=policies.html>

National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE)

<www.nasbe.org/HealthySchools>

National Center for Bicycling and Walking

<www.bikewalk.org>

National Education Association – Health Information Network

<www.neasmartbody.org>

National PTA

<www.pta.org>

National Research Center for Women and Families

<www.center4research.org>

National School Boards Association (NSBA)

<www.nsba.org/schoolhealth>

New York State Department of Health

<www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/chronic/obesity/> and <www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/nutrition.index.htm>

North Dakota Dietetic Association

<www.eatrightnd.org>

Parents’ Action for Children

<www.parentsaction.org>

PE4life

<www.pe4life.org>

Prevention Institute

<www.preventioninstitute.org/sa/enact.html>

Produce for Better Health Foundation

<www.5aday.org>
Produce Marketing Association

<www.pma.com>
Samuels and Associates

<www.samuelsandassociates.com>

Society for Nutrition Education

<www.sne.org>
SPARK PE

<www.sparkpe.org>

Sportime

<www.sportime.com>

Stark County Health Department (OH)

<www.starkhealth.org>

Step Together New Orleans

Administered by Louisiana Public Health Institute in partnership with
the City of New Orleans

<www.steptogethernola.org/home>

United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association

<www.uffva.org>
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Public Health

<www.uams.edu/coph>
U.S. Water Fitness Association

<www.mwaquatics.com>

Women’s Sports Foundation

<www.womenssportsfoundation.org>

Young People’s Healthy Heart Program at Mercy Hospital (ND)

<www.healthyheartprogram.com>

[1] It is against the law to make others in the cafeteria aware of the eligibility status of children for free, reduced-price, or “paid” meals.