7 Strategies for Preventing Childhood Obesity in the Schools

1. Develop and implement nutritional standards for all competitive foods and beverages sold or served in schools. “Competitive foods” are foods and beverages sold or served that are not part of the federal school meal program. They often represent a significant share of the available foods that students purchase and consume at school.

2. Ensure that all school meals meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Dietary Guidelines for Americans is published jointly every five years by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture. The Guidelines provide authoritative advice regarding how good dietary habits for people two years and older can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases. www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines/

3. Ensure that all children and youth participate in a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-tovigorous physical activity during the school day. These expanded opportunities for physical activity could be through classes, sports programs, clubs, lessons, after-school programs, community use of school facilities, and walking and biking to school programs.

4. Enhance school health curricula and the use of school health services for obesity prevention efforts. Schools should ensure that nutrition, physical activity and wellness concepts are taught throughout the curriculum from kindergarten through high school. School health clinics often are an untapped resource and have the ability to reach large numbers of students with nutrition and health information.

5. Ensure that schools are as advertising-free as possible. Advertisements, for example, should not promote soft drinks or other foods that are devoid of nutritional value.

6. Conduct annual assessments of students’ weight, height and body mass index and make that information available to parents. Annual measurements will likely be resource-intensive for schools; however the IOM states that the importance of parents having information about their child’s BMI is as important as other health or academic assessments.

7. Assess school policies and practices related to nutrition, physical activity and obesity prevention. Most school districts are required by the federal government to have developed a Wellness Policy by July 1, 2006 for the upcoming school year. This is one way school districts can begin to look at their policies and practices and begin to implement changes to impact the health of their students.