Featured Research Product
School District Wellness Policies: Evaluating Progress and Potential for Improving Children's Health Three Years After the Federal Mandate: School Years 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09
This new report examines the latest data on district wellness policies, including provisions for school meal guidelines, physical activity goals and other requirements of the federal mandate. It also compares wellness policy guidelines with the 2007 Institute of Medicine (IOM) nutritional standards for competitive products sold in schools. Findings are based on nationally representative samples of school districts from the three school years immediately following the required adoption date for these policies.
July 2009 Report
Local Wellness Policies: Assessing School District Strategies for Improving Children's Health: School Years 2006-07 and 2007-08
This report, released in July of 2009, presents data from a comprehensive review of wellness policies from a nationally representative sample of school districts. Our researchers evaluated policies related to nutrition education, school meals, competitive food and beverage guidelines, physical activity, physical education, food and beverage marketing in schools, and evaluation strategies for the school years 2006-07 and 2007-08, the first two years of the wellness policy requirement.
Download July 2009 Executive Summary >
In 2006, Bridging the Gap began an ongoing, large-scale study to gather nationally representative data about school district policies and school practices relevant to childhood obesity.
- Learn more about our study of elementary school practices
- Learn more about our study of secondary school practices
Video Q&A
Lead author of this report, Jamie Chriqui, Ph.D., M.H.S., of the University of Illinois at Chicago, answers several questions about its key findings and policy opportunities.
Data
These files include information in Local Wellness Policies: Assessing School District Strategies for Improving Children’s Health: School Years 2006-07 and 2007-08, as well as additional information not found in the July 2009 report. Data are presented by race/ethnicity of the districts’ students, socioeconomic status, geographic region and locale. Data for the 2008-09 school year coming soon.
Wellness Policy Coding Tool
These files provide the coding tools utilized to evaluate the school district wellness policies in place by the first day of the 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years.
Presentation Slides
These slides provide a brief overview of the district wellness policy study methods and highlight findings from the 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years.
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