DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

DEPENDENTS SCHOOLS

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT

ISLES DISTRICT

UNIT 5185, BOX 470

APO AE 09461-5470

 

 

                                     

Isles District Wellness Policy

 

 

ISLES District’s Wellness Policies on Physical Activity and Nutrition

Mission: The ISLES District schools are committed to maintaining a safe, healthy, drug-free educational environment that enhances learning and development of lifelong wellness practices for all students.

The District and the Wellness Committee recognizes that good mental and physical health, emotional stability, positive social interaction skills, and drug-free lifestyle are key factors in supporting student performance, both academically and in co-curricular and extracurricular activities. In order to maintain this environment, the District shall provide both prevention and early intervention approaches to address all levels of need. Included shall be appropriate and accurate information, positive and healthy activities, an identification and referral process, and support for students and their families.

The Wellness Committee in coordination with DODEA Regulation 4200.1 (August 22, 2007)  proposes the following components of a healthy school district that addresses health instruction, health services, physical education, counseling, child nutrition and other programs.

To accomplish this mission:

Child Nutrition Programs will comply with federal, state and local requirements. Child Nutrition Programs are accessible to all children.

·         Sequential and interdisciplinary nutrition education is provided and promoted through science and health classes.

·         Patterns of meaningful physical activity connect to students’ lives outside of physical education.

                •   All school-based activities are consistent with local wellness policy goals.

·         All food and beverages made available on campuses (including vending, concessions, a la carte, parties, and fundraising) during the school day are consistent with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

·         All foods made available on campuses adhere to food safety and security guidelines.

·         The school environment is safe, comfortable, pleasing, and allows ample time and space for eating meals. Food and/or physical activity is not used as a reward or punishment.

·         The school staff will act as role models for good nutrition and physical activity behaviors.

 

Preamble

Whereas, children need access to healthful foods and opportunities to be physically active in order to grow, learn, and thrive;

Whereas, good health fosters student attendance and education;

Whereas, obesity rates have doubled in children and tripled in adolescents over the last two decades, and physical inactivity and excessive calorie intake are the predominant causes of obesity;

Whereas, heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes are responsible for two-thirds of deaths in the United States, and major risk factors for those diseases, including unhealthy eating habits, physical inactivity, and obesity, often are established in childhood;

Whereas, 33% of high school students do not participate in sufficient vigorous physical activity and 72% of high school students do not attend daily physical education classes;

Whereas, only 2% of children (2 to 19 years) eat a healthy diet consistent with the five main recommendations from the Food Guide Pyramid;

Whereas, nationally, the items most commonly sold from school vending machines, school stores, and snack bars include low-nutrition foods and beverages, such as soda, sports drinks, imitation fruit juices, chips, candy, cookies, and snack cakes;

Whereas, school districts around the country are facing significant fiscal and scheduling constraints; and

Whereas, community participation is essential to the development and implementation of successful school wellness policies;

Thus, the ISLES District 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.

TO ACHIEVE THESE POLICY GOALS:
 

 

I. The Wellness Committee

                                                                                                                              

The Wellness Committee will create, strengthen, or work within existing school health policies to develop, implement, monitor, review, and, as necessary, revise school nutrition and physical activity policies. The committee also will serve as a resource to school sites for implementing those policies. (The Wellness Committee consists of a group of individuals representing the school and community, and should include parents, students, and representatives of the school food authority, members of the school board, school administrators, teachers, health professionals, and members of the public.)
 

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

 

School Meals

 

Meals served through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs will follow the suggested guidelines:

  • The food served will be colorful, appealing, and attractive to children;
  • Meals will be served in a clean and pleasant environment;
  • Each meal shall meet, at a minimum, one third of the daily nutritional requirements established by federal statutes and regulations;
  • The nutritional value of each meal should be labeled and published.
  • Meals served will offer a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables;2
  • Only low-fat (1%) and fat-free milk3 and nutritionally-equivalent non-dairy alternatives (to be defined by USDA) will be served;
  • Ensure that at least half of the served grains are whole grain;3, 4
  • All school cafeterias will offer salad bars with sneeze guards.

School food service providers must share information about the nutritional content of meals with parents and students. Such information should be made available on menus, a website, on cafeteria menu boards, placards, and other point-of-purchase materials.

 

Breakfast. To ensure that all children have breakfast, in order to meet their nutritional needs and enhance their ability to learn, schools will encourage parents to provide a healthy breakfast for their children through newsletter articles, take-home materials, or other means.

Free and Reduced-priced Meals. Schools 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 meals5. Toward this end, schools may utilize electronic identification and payment systems; promote the availability of school meals to all students; and/or use nontraditional methods for serving school meals.

Meal Times and Scheduling. Schools:

  • should schedule meal periods at appropriate times, e.g., lunch should be scheduled between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.;
  • should not schedule tutoring, club, or organizational meetings or activities during mealtimes, unless students may eat during such activities;
  • will schedule lunch periods to follow recess periods if possible;
  • will provide students access to hand washing or hand sanitizing before they eat meals or snacks;
  • should take reasonable steps to accommodate the tooth-brushing regimens of students with special oral health needs (e.g., orthodontia or high tooth decay risk).

Qualifications and Procurement of School Food Services. Qualified nutrition professionals will administer the school meal programs. Bids from multiple contractors should be solicited to provide the school food services per regulations on an annual basis.6

Sharing of Foods and Beverages. Schools should discourage students 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.
 

 

Foods and Beverages Sold Individually (i.e., foods sold outside of reimbursable school meals, such as through vending machines, cafeteria a la carte [snack] lines, fundraisers, school stores, etc.)

(D.J.)   View Additional Resources

 

Elementary Schools. The schools will approve all food and beverage sales to students in elementary schools. Given young children's limited nutrition skills, food in elementary schools should be sold as balanced meals. If available, foods and beverages sold individually should be limited to low-fat and non-fat milk, fruits, and non-fried vegetables.

Middle/Junior High and High Schools. In middle/junior high and high schools, all foods and beverages sold individually outside the reimbursable school meal programs during the school day or through programs for students after the school day should encourage healthy alternatives that will meet the following nutrition and portion size standards.

Beverages

Sufficient drinking water should be provided free of charge to all students and staff.

·         Allowed: water or seltzer water7 without added caloric sweeteners; fruit and vegetable juices and fruit-based drinks that contain at least 50% fruit juice and that do not contain additional caloric sweeteners; unflavored or flavored low-fat or fat-free milk and nutritionally-equivalent nondairy beverages (to be defined by USDA);

·         Not allowed: soft drinks containing caloric sweeteners; sports drinks; iced teas; fruit-based drinks that contain less than 50% real fruit juice or that contain additional caloric sweeteners; beverages containing caffeine, excluding low-fat or fat-free chocolate milk (which contain trivial amounts of caffeine).

·                 Foods

·         A food item sold individually:

§  will have no more than 30% of its calories from fat (excluding nuts, seeds, peanut butter, and other nut butters) and no more than 10% of its calories from saturated and trans fat combined;

§  will have no more than 35% of its weight from added sugars;8

§  will contain no more than 230 mg of sodium per serving for chips, cereals, crackers, French fries, baked goods, and other snack items;

§  will contain no more than 480 mg of sodium per serving for pastas, meats, and soups;

§  will contain no more than 600 mg of sodium for pizza, sandwiches, and main dishes.

·         A choice of at least two fruits and/or non-fried vegetables will be offered for sale at any location on the school site where foods are sold. Such items could include, but are not limited to, fresh fruits and vegetables; 100% fruit or vegetable juice; fruit-based drinks that are at least 50% fruit juice and that do not contain additional caloric sweeteners; cooked, dried, or canned fruits (canned in fruit juice or light syrup); and cooked, dried, or canned vegetables (that meet the above fat and sodium guidelines).9

·                 Portion Sizes

·         Limit portion sizes of foods and beverages sold individually to those listed below:

§  one and a half ounces for chips, crackers, popcorn, cereal, trail mix, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, or jerky;

§  two ounces for cereal bars and cookies,(two normal sized cookies), granola bars,

§  three ounces for pastries, muffins, doughnuts, bagels, and other bakery items;

§  four fluid ounces for frozen desserts, including, but not limited to, low-fat or fat-free ice cream;

§  eight ounces for non-frozen yogurt;

§  12-16 fluid ounces for beverages, excluding water;

§  the portion size of a la carte entrees and side dishes, including potatoes, will not be greater than the size of comparable portions offered as part of school meals.

§  fruits and non-fried vegetables are exempt from portion-size limits.

Fundraising Activities. To support children's health and school nutrition-education efforts, school fundraising activities that involve food will use only foods that meet the above nutrition and portion size standards for foods and beverages sold individually. Schools should encourage fundraising activities that promote physical activity.

Snacks. Snacks served during the school day or in after-school care or enrichment programs can 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. The school may disseminate a list of suggested healthful snack items to teachers, after-school program personnel, and parents.

Rewards. Schools should not use foods or beverages, especially those that do not meet the nutrition standards for foods and beverages sold individually (above), as rewards for academic performance or good behavior,10 and will not withhold food or beverages (including food served through school meals) as a punishment.

Celebrations. Schools should limit celebrations that involve food during the school day to no more than one party per class per month. The school should disseminate a list of healthy party ideas to parents and teachers.

School-sponsored Events (such as, but not limited to, athletic events, dances, or performances). Foods and beverages offered or sold at school-sponsored events outside the school day should meet the nutrition standards for meals or for foods and beverages sold individually.
 

III. Nutrition and Physical Activity Promotion

 

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

  • is offered 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;
  • includes enjoyable, developmentally-appropriate, culturally-relevant, participatory activities, such as contests, promotions, taste testing, farm visits, and school gardens;
  • promotes fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat and fat-free dairy products, healthy food preparation methods, and health-enhancing nutrition practices;
  • emphasizes caloric balance between food intake and energy expenditure (physical activity/exercise);
  • links with school meal programs, other school foods, and nutrition-related community services;
  • teaches media literacy with an emphasis on food marketing; and
  • includes training for teachers and other staff.

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 and/or computer activities;
  • opportunities for physical activity will be incorporated into other subject lessons;
  • classroom teachers should provide short physical activity breaks between lessons or classes, as appropriate.

Communications with Parents. The school should support parents' efforts to provide a healthy diet and daily physical activity for their children. The school will offer healthy eating seminars for parents, send home nutrition information, post nutrition tips on school websites, and provide nutrient analyses of school menus. Schools should encourage parents to pack healthy lunches and snacks and to refrain from including beverages and foods that do not meet the above nutrition standards for individual foods and beverages. The school may provide parents a list of foods that meet the USDA guidelines and ideas for healthy celebrations/parties, rewards, and fundraising activities. In addition, the school may provide opportunities for parents to share their healthy food practices with others in the school community.

The school should provide information about physical education and other school-based physical activity opportunities before, during, and after the school day; and support parents' efforts to provide their children with opportunities to be physically active outside of school. Such supports will include sharing information about physical activity and physical education through a website, newsletter or take home materials, and special events.

Staff Wellness

 Isles District 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 school should have a staff wellness point of contact (POC). The POC, in collaboration with the District Wellness Committee should develop, promote, and oversee a multifaceted plan to promote staff health and wellness. The plan should be based on input solicited from school staff and should outline ways to encourage healthy eating, physical activity, and other elements of a healthy lifestyle among school staff. This plan should be shared with the staff on a continuous basis.
 

IV. Physical Activity Opportunities and Physical Education

 

Daily Physical Education (P.E.) K-12. All students in grades in K-5 should receive physical education at least 5 days a week not to include recess. All students in grades 6-8 will receive physical education 200 minutes a week, at least. All students in grades in 9-12 will be required to complete 2 credits of physical education to graduate.

Daily Recess. All 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.

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.

Physical Activity Opportunities Before and After School. All elementary, middle, and high schools will offer extracurricular physical activity programs, such as physical activity clubs or intramural programs. All high schools, and middle schools as appropriate, will offer interscholastic sports programs. Schools will offer a range of activities that meet the needs, interests, and abilities of all students, including boys, girls, students with disabilities, and students with special health-care needs. Schools will encourage students and parents to use base facilities and programs as available that promote healthy living.

Physical Activity and Punishment. Teachers and other school and community personnel will not use physical activity (e.g., running laps, pushups) or withhold opportunities for physical activity (e.g., recess, physical education) as punishment.

Safe Routes to School. The school district, working with the base commander will assess and, if necessary to the extent possible, make needed improvements to make it safer and easier for students to walk and bike to school. When appropriate, the district will work together with local public works, public safety, and/or police departments in those efforts. 

Use of School Facilities Outside of School Hours. School spaces and facilities should be available to students, staff, and community members before, 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. Where such school facilities do not exist and are limited, community and schools should cooperate to provide reasonable access community facilities. Community partnerships need to be developed to encourage the safe use and maintenance of playgrounds.
 

V. Monitoring and Policy Review

 

Monitoring. The superintendent or designee will ensure compliance with established district-wide nutrition and physical activity wellness policies. In each school, the principal or designee will ensure compliance with those policies in his/her school and will report on the school's compliance to the school district superintendent or designee.

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 superintendent (or if done at the school level, to the school principal). In addition, the school district will report on the most recent USDA review findings and any resulting changes.

The superintendent or designee will develop a summary report annually on district-wide compliance with the district's established nutrition and physical activity wellness policies, based on input from schools within the district. That report will be provided to the school board and also distributed to all school health councils, parent/teacher organizations, school principals, and school health services personnel in the district.

Policy Review. To help with the initial development of the district's wellness policies, each school in the district will conduct a baseline assessment of the school's existing nutrition and physical activity environments and policies.13 The results of those school-by-school assessments will be compiled at the district level to identify and prioritize needs.

Assessments will be repeated annually to help review policy compliance, assess progress, and determine areas in need of improvement. As part of that review, the school district will review our nutrition and physical activity policies; provision of an environment that supports healthy eating and physical activity; and nutrition and physical education policies and program elements. The district, and individual schools within the district will, as necessary, revise the wellness policies and develop work plans to facilitate their implementation.
 

 

Footnotes

2 To the extent possible, schools will offer at least two non-fried vegetable and two fruit options each day and will offer five different fruits and five different vegetables over the course of a week. Schools are encouraged to source fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers when practicable.

3 As recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005.

4 A whole grain is one labeled as a "whole" grain product or with a whole grain listed as the primary grain ingredient in the ingredient statement. Examples include "whole" wheat flour, cracked wheat, brown rice, and oatmeal.

5 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.

6 School nutrition staff development programs are available through the USDA, School Nutrition Association, and National Food Service Management Institute.

7 Surprisingly, seltzer water may not be sold during meal times in areas of the school where food is sold or eaten because it is considered a "Food of Minimal Nutritional Value" (Appendix B of 7 CFR Part 210).

8 If a food manufacturer fails to provide the added sugars content of a food item, use the percentage of weight from total sugars (in place of the percentage of weight from added sugars), and exempt fruits, vegetables, and dairy foods from this total sugars limit.

9 Schools that have vending machines are encouraged to include refrigerated snack vending machines, which can accommodate fruits, vegetables, yogurts, and other perishable items.

10 Unless this practice is allowed by a student's individual education plan (IEP).

11 Advertising of low-nutrition foods and beverages is permitted in supplementary classroom and library materials, such as newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and similar media, when such materials are used in a class lesson or activity, or as a research tool.

12 Schools should not permit general brand marketing for food brands under which more than half of the foods or beverages do not meet the nutrition standards for foods sold individually or the meals are not consistent with school meal nutrition standards.

13 Useful self-assessment and planning tools include the School Health Index from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Changing the Scene from the Team Nutrition Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Opportunity to Learn Standards for Elementary, Middle, and High School Physical Education from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education.    
 

 

Resources:

Promoting Healthy Youth, Schools and Communities: A Guide to Community-School Health Councils, American Cancer Society
http://www.schoolwellnesspolicies.org/resources/AGuideToCommunitySchoolHealthCouncils.pdf

 

 

Effective School Health Advisory Councils: Moving from Policy to Action, Public Schools of North Carolina
www.schoolwellnesspolicies.org/resources/NC_SHAC_FINAL.pdf

Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture
www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/

Aafes School Menus and meal nutritional information
www.aafes.com

 

 

Nutrition Services: an Essential Component of Comprehensive Health Programs, American Dietetic Association
www.eatright.org

Breakfast for Learning, Food Research and Action Center
www.frac.org/pdf/breakfastforlearning.PDF

Eating at School: A Summary of NFSMI Research on Time Required by Students to Eat Lunch, National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI)
www.schoolwellnesspolicies.org/resources/eating_at_school.pdf

Relationships of Meal and Recess Schedules to Plate Waste in Elementary Schools, National Food Service Management Institute
www.nfsmi.org/Information/Newsletters/insight24.pdf

Constructive Classroom Rewards, Center for Science in the Public Interest
www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/constructive_rewards.pdf

Alternatives to Using Food as a Reward, Michigan State University Extension
www.tn.fcs.msue.msu.edu/foodrewards.pdf

Brain Breaks, Michigan Department of Education
www.emc.cmich.edu/brainbreaks

Energizers, East Carolina University
www.ncpe4me.com/energizers.html

School Staff Wellness, National Association of State Boards of Education
www.schoolwellnesspolicies.org/resources/SchoolStaffWellness.pdf

Recess Before Lunch Policy: Kids Play and then Eat, Montana Team Nutrition
www.opi.state.mt.us/schoolfood/recessBL.html

Relationships of Meal and Recess Schedules to Plate Waste in Elementary Schools, National Food Service Management Institute
www.nfsmi.org/Information/Newsletters/insight24.pdf

School Health Index, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
apps.nccd.cdc.gov/shi/

Model School Wellness Policies
http://www.schoolwellnesspolicies.org/WellnessPolicies.html#schoolmeals