Local School Wellness Policies

1.  Form a School Wellness Team

• “Healthier Middle Schools: Everyone Can Help” is not just for Middle Schools! It’s a series of communication tools designed to help you engage teachers, principals, parents, food service managers and students in school wellness efforts. Check it out!

2.  Write Your LWP

• Colorado Association of School Boards' (CASB) Local School Wellness Policy Template
• View this resource for Model Wellness Policies and additional resources with supportive research

3.  Implement your LWP

• The Action Guide for School Nutrition and Physical Activity Policies provides comprehensive guidance for school districts on developing and implementing local policies to promote healthy eating and physical activity.
• Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) will help schools revise/update the physical education/activity portions of your policies
• Policy in Action: A Guide to Implementing Your Local Wellness Policy

4.  Evaluate your LWP Form

• Yale Rudd’s WellSAT (Wellness Assessment Tool)
• Denver Public Schools: Wellness Policy Assessment Tool
• Adams 12 Health and Wellness Assessment

• Healthy Rewards in the Classroom
• Alternatives to Food Rewards (Colorado Legacy Foundation)
• Healthy School Food Options:  Outside of the USDA Reimbursable Meal Program ( Minnesota Health Department)

• Healthy Fundraisers
• Healthy Fundraisers (Action for Healthy Kids)
• Fundraising Options Available to Schools (Center for Science in the Public Interest)
• Sweet Deals:  School Fundraising Can Be Healthy and Profitable (Center for Science in the Public Interest)

• Healthy Holiday Parties
• Healthy Celebrations (Connecticut State Department of Education)
• Game and Activity Ideas (Colorado Legacy Foundation)
• Indoor Recess Kit (RMC Health)

• Colorado State Guidance
• “On or before July 1, 2006, each school district board of education is encouraged to adopt policies ensuring that: (I) Healthful meals in the school cafeteria made available to students with an adequate time to eat".  Colorado State Statute 22-32-136 (2005)
• USDA’s 2004 guidance on Eating in the context of Wellness Policies (this link is currently down for updating by USDA and will be linked when the USDA page becomes available)
• “The school district will ensure an adequate time for students to enjoy eating healthy foods with friends in schools.”
• “The school district will schedule lunch time as near the middle of the school day as possible.”
• “The school district will schedule recess for elementary schools before lunch so that children will come to lunch less distracted and ready to eat."
• Wellness Policies
• CASB’s Wellness Policy Template contains the following language, “The goal of supporting and promoting proper dietary habits shall be accomplished by: A requirement that all students have access to healthful food choices in appropriate portion sizes throughout the school day, including healthful meals in the school cafeteria with an adequate time to eat; healthful items in vending machines, and healthful items for fundraisers, classroom parties, and rewards in the schools.”

• Scientific studies
• Journal of Child Nutrition: "How Long Does it Take Students to Eat Lunch?: A Summary of Three Studies"
• "School children took an average of 7 to 10 minutes to consume their lunch. Some students, however, required less time, while others needed...longer than 10 minutes to consume their lunch. In school districts where the scheduled lunch period is a contested issue, the only way school foodservice directors could know precisely whether this average reflects students in their program is to conduct a time study using similar methods...
• If 20 minutes at the table were the goal, then school foodservice directors would need to factor in the following:
• average travel time to the cafeteria
• time for service, including travel to the eating area; and
• bussing of trays after the meal to yield an ideal lunch period...
• If 20 minutes at the table represents 78% of the meal period (Figure 2), a goal for the entire time students spend in the cafeteria would be at least 26 minutes. This would allow four minutes for travel to and from the cafeteria in a 30-minute lunch period. Although this calculation is based strictly on averages, a school foodservice director could use this type of logic in documenting an ideal lunch period with school administrators."
• “Eating at School: A Summary of NFSMI Research on Time Required by Students to Eat Lunch, National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI)”