Solutions: Improving Quality of School Wellness Policies
A Healthy Kids Challenge view of the quality issues schools encounter when it comes to wellness...and one of our simple, every day, evidence based solutions.
What schools tell us:
We don't have a wellness team.
We had a wellness team to develop the policy, but it hasn't met since then.
We have one staff member who takes care of all of the wellness stuff.
We don't have a budget for this.
Research confirms:
Inconsistent QUALITY and weak language make up most school districts' wellness policies. Most include only general goals and no specific guidelines or requirements for taking action.
Solution: Get people on board - Recruit a KidLinkTM* Team.
We know there are parents, teachers, and community members who are very interested in wellness - the key is to find them and highlight the benefits - the win/wins - of forming a KidLinkTM team.
A KidLinkTM team = A best practice
1. It provides a foundation for communication, support, and collaboration.
2. No one person gets "burned out" with the responsibillity for ALL school wellness policies.
3. A team of diverse members can improve the quality of the wellness policies with very little time and effort.
*People who can help kids make healthy eating and physical activity choices a habit.
