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Make a Difference at Your School
Key Strategies to Prevent Obesity
The percentage of children who are obese1
has more than doubled, and among adolescents the rates have more than
tripled since 1980. Obesity is a risk factor for health conditions such
as diabetes and is associated with problems such as poor self-esteem. The
good news is that schools can help students and staff adopt healthy eating
and physical activity behaviors that are the keys to preventing obesity.
Make
a Difference at Your School!
[pdf 1.7Mb]. The research-based strategies outlined in
Make a Difference at
Your School! are described in:
The Role of Schools
in Preventing Childhood Obesity [pdf 627K]
The State Education Standard
2004;5(2):4-12.
See
also
Childhood Obesity for more
facts, resources, and links.
Promote Physical Activity and Healthy Eating
You can make a difference at your school this year by following these
steps:
Step 1:
See what you
can do to get started. Find other students, parents, teachers, or administrators who also want
your school to be a healthy school.
Step 2:
Choose one of the 10 key strategies below
and implement it.
Step 3: Share your success story
so others can learn new ways to improve the health of young people at
school.
10 Key Strategies |
Build a Strong Foundation
Strategies 1-4
1. Address physical activity and nutrition through a Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP).
2. Designate a school health coordinator and maintain an active school health council.
3. Assess the school's health policies
and programs and develop a plan for improvements.
4. Strengthen the school's nutrition and
physical activity policies. |
Take Action
Strategies 5-10
5. Implement a high-quality health promotion
program for school staff.
6. Implement a high-quality course of study in
health education.7. Implement a high-quality course of study in
physical education.
8. Increase opportunities for students to engage in physical activity.9. Implement a quality school meals program.
10. Ensure that students have appealing,
healthy choices in foods and beverages offered outside of the school
meals program. |
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- Ogden CL,
Carroll MD, Flegal KM. High Body Mass Index for Age Among US Children
and Adolescents, 2003-2006. JAMA. 2008;299(20):2401-2405.
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Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link.
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