Weight-related outcomes were examined among high school students in Minnesota public school districts according to the quality of district wellness policies. Wellness policy strength and comprehensiveness were scored using the Wellness School Assessment Tool (WellSAT) for 325 Minnesota public school districts in 2013. The associations between…

The Healthy Schools Program provides technical assistance to help schools engage administrators, teachers, parents and vendors in increasing access to physical activity and healthier foods for students and staff. Current grants run to September 2013. The program addresses two policy priorities of the Childhood Obesity team: (1) Ensure that all…

The federal school nutrition programs are the keystones to the diets of millions of American children. Schools have the opportunity to support healthy nutrition habits early in life by creating environments that encourage the consumption of healthy foods and beverages. This paper provides resources which offer general information about the…

Childhood obesity in the U.S. has reached crisis proportion. In response, public elementary schools have embarked on various methods to increase children's physical activity. The purpose of this study was to examine strategies by United States public elementary schools to increase children's physical activity. Of particular concern was how…

The school environment is an ideal setting for healthy weight programming with adolescents. The federal government has reinforced the importance of school-based health promotion. The current study examined the preliminary influence of the 2006 school wellness policy requirement of the "Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act"…

Implementation of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 will provide an opportunity for school nurses to intervene in the serious childhood obesity problem in the United States. Major changes in the management of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) will likely challenge schools yet may provide the impetus for a collaborative effort by the…

Headlines recently were full of studies about the obesity problem of America's children and young people, as if kids became overweight without anyone noticing. An accumulation of both school and family habits, however, have been contributing to the fact that at least 13% of children ages 7 to 11 are overweight, double those of the 1970s (and…

This article focuses on overweight children and the role that educators (and schools) might play in supporting and reinforcing this unhealthful lifestyle. Included are strategies for promoting more healthful eating and activity habits. The article concludes with a list of resources offering additional help in addressing this growing threat.

Studies show that childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Today, more than 23 million American children--or nearly one in every three--are overweight or obese. If childhood obesity is left unaddressed, a generation of individuals could face health, social, and economic challenges that promise to stress government…