|
Breakout Session VII—Influences
of Family, Schools, and Worksites on Obesity
Discussion Group D: School Influences on Obesity
Moderators: Steven Gortmaker, Catherine Cowell
Recorders: Jeff Sunderlin, Helen Leonard, Kathy Novak
Purpose: The school
serves as a learning center for academic performance and for physical
activity and nutrition. This discussion focused on all aspects of
the school environment and how these factors contribute to obesity
or work to prevent it.
Process: The group opened
with brief presentations from the moderators and selected three
areas as actionable priorities for the next 5 years. A brief discussion
of the specific recommendations contained within each priority is
included in the discussion that follows each recommendation.
Introduction
In their introduction, Steven Gortmaker and Catherine Cowell shared
their perspectives with session participants regarding the influence
of schools on obesity. They discussed how primary prevention begins
with the first infant feeding and continues as food patterns develop
with reinforcement at each subsequent feeding. Childcare programs
and primary schools provide unlimited opportunities for nutrition
and physical activity projects that can lead the development of
behaviors that prevent overweight and obesity. Therefore, schools
have an important public health and educational role to play in
promoting healthy eating and physical activity.
Many participants expressed concern about negative
trends in schools, notably the cutbacks in school physical education
requirements, the elimination of recess in many elementary schools,
and the increasing availability of low-nutritive foods and beverages
on school campuses. Back to Top
Actionable Priority: Education
of Students
Several recommendations regarding student education were discussed.
Ideas and Considerations
- Work with curriculum developers to develop specific
courses of study on nutrition and physical activity and incorporate
nutrition and physical activity concepts and principles in a variety
of academic subjects.
- Enact legislation for schools to implement curricula
shown to be effective in improving diet and physical activity
and reducing obesity.
- Seek funding from a variety of sources (such as
corporations, foundations, and government agencies) to implement
programs that show evidence of effectiveness (examples include
Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH),
Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids (SPARK), Planet Health,
Team Nutrition, and Pathways).
Back to Top
Actionable Priority: Education
of School Personnel and the Public
Discussants recommended the following strategies for educating school
personnel and the public on the importance of good nutrition, physical
activity, and obesity prevention for children and adolescents.
Ideas and Considerations
- Increase collaboration between administrators,
parents, teachers, the community, the media, and businesses to
support and value the notion that a healthy child learns better.
- Fund educational programs for school food-service
staff, other school personnel, and the public on the importance
of good nutrition, physical activity, and obesity prevention for
children and adolescents.
- Assess and disseminate information about school
performance before and after implementing key physical activity
and nutrition policies.
- Assess how superintendents and principals perceive
their roles and responsibility in promoting and maintaining their
students' health.
- Broaden school report cards to include indicators
of physical activity and nutrition.
- Develop a national campaign about childhood and
adolescent obesity with intersectoral and community group involvement
to support the campaign. Various groups could be targeted for
the campaign, such as school administrators, teachers and other
staff, parents, school policymakers and decisionmakers, media
resources, school food-service staff, parent-teacher associations,
and the community as a whole. Appropriate spokespersons to address
each target audience should be identified.
Back to Top
Actionable Priority: School
Food Service and School Nutrition Environment
Session participants made several recommendations regarding the
availability and quality of foods provided in school settings.
Ideas and Considerations
- With leadership from the USDA and DHHS, initiate
a process of dialog around standards for all foods served and
sold in schools and enact legislation or regulations to implement
any new nutrition standards resulting from these discussions.
In particular, standards for foods and beverages offered outside
the school meal programs need to be developed, addressing such
components as the percentage of sugar, saturated fat, and fruit
juice in beverage and snack products; caffeine content; school
hours for sales; and access to water.
- Work with the National Accreditation Association
of Schools K-12 to add a "healthy school nutrition environment"
to their school accreditation programs to strengthen the value
of such environments to school administrators and personnel.
- Develop model policies and informational materials
(e.g., parent brochures and Web sites) and use them in campaigns
to market nutrition standards and healthy eating choices at school.
- Study the effects on student knowledge, behavior,
and attitudes when implementing the school nutrition standards.
Studies to identify effective strategies to implement school nutrition
standards and policies are also needed.
- Restore the State-based infrastructure for school
nutrition education and training, which can enable school districts
to train all levels of school food-service employees in nutrition,
sanitation, and safety.
- Provide funding to train school administrators
and staff in implementing nutrition standards and to support compliance
with the standards. Funding is also needed for statewide coalitions
to implement campaigns to promote the nutrition standards.
- Encourage every school district to require school
food-service managers to meet State or national certification
standards.
- Initiate dialog and promote public education about
the possible negative consequences of commercial food-marketing
practices in schools.
Back to Top
Actionable Priority: Physical
Education
Participants proposed several recommendations for school programs
to promote physical activity.
Ideas and Considerations
- Conduct research to document the effectiveness
of physical education programs in reducing obesity, increasing
activity levels, improving fitness, increasing well-being, improving
attention in class, and improving academic performance.
- Assess the attitudes of public policymakers, parents,
and school faculty and administrators toward physical education
and develop a targeted marketing strategy to promote the importance
of physical education to each group.
- Advocate State policies that promote funding for
and mandate standards in physical education. Identify champions
and partners at legislative and technical assistance levels. Create
inventories of potential and existing partners in different States
and create a marketing plan to approach each potential partner.
- Improve the quality of the physical education curriculum
to increase physical activity and to integrate physical education
and nutrition with other core curriculum components. Incorporate
a wide range of movement and physical activity options in curriculum
and co-curricular programs (e.g., recess, after-school and extended-day
programs).
Back to Top
|
