Background: A US federal mandate that school districts devise and implement local wellness policies (LWPs) has potential widespread impact on the nutritional content of foods and beverages available in schools and on the amount of physical activity that students engage in; however, evidence concerning the mandate's effectiveness is limited. This…

Background: Schools use a number of measures to reduce harmful tobacco, alcohol, and drug use by students. One important component is the school's drug policy, which serves to set normative values and expectations for student behavior as well as to document procedures for dealing with drug-related incidents. There is little empirical evidence of…

Background: The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2006 is the largest, most comprehensive assessment of school health programs in the United States ever conducted. Methods: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducts SHPPS every 6 years. In 2006, computer-assisted telephone interviews or self-administered mail…

Background: US schools employ an estimated 6.7 million workers and are thus an ideal setting for employee wellness programs. This article describes the characteristics of school employee wellness programs in the United States, including state-, district-, and school-level policies and programs. Methods: The Centers for Disease Control and…

This study analyzed data from the School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2000 to examine the relationship between school health councils and selected school health policies and programs. SHPPS 2000 collected data from faculty and staff in a nationally representative sample of schools. About two-thirds (65.7%) of US schools have school…

The School Health Index (SHI) is a self-assessment and planning tool that helps individual schools identify the strengths and weaknesses of their health policies and programs. To determine the percentage of US schools meeting the recommendations in the SHI, the present study analyzed data from the School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS)…

Background: Schools are in a unique position not only to identify mental health problems among children and adolescents but also to provide links to appropriate services. This article describes the characteristics of school mental health and social services in the United States, including state- and district-level policies and school practices.…