Local Wellness Policy

1. THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Office of Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education School Operations and Management Services Child Nutrition Program Administration Room 55, Albany, NY 12234 Tel. (518) 473-1525 Fax (518) 473-0018 Local Wellness Policy

2. Child Nutrition Reauthorization “Section 204 of the Child Nutrition and Women, Infants and Children Reauthorization Act of 2004 (PL 108-265) signed into law June 30, 2004 included a provision that requires each local educational agency (LEA) participating in the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program and Summer Food Service Program to establish a local wellness policy for schools under the LEA. This policy must be developed and implemented not later than the first day of the school year beginning after June 30, 2006.”

3. The wellness policy should … • Include goals for nutrition education, physical activity, and other school-based activities that are designed to promote student wellness in a manner that the LEA determines appropriate

4. The wellness policy should … • Include nutrition guidelines selected by the LEA for all foods available on each school campus under the LEA with the objectives of promoting student health and reducing childhood obesity

5. The wellness policy should … • Provide an assurance that guidelines for reimbursable school meals shall not be less restrictive than regulations of the Child Nutrition programs

6. The wellness policy should also… • Establish an evaluation and monitoring plan for the policy • Designate one or more persons within the LEA or at each school, as appropriate, to ensure that the school meets the goals of the policy • Involve parents, students, LEA representatives, the school board, school administrators, and the public in the development of the policy

7. LWP COMPONENT 1: SETTING NUTRITION EDUCATION GOALS The primary goal of nutrition education is to influence students’ eating behaviors. The following should be considered when establishing nutrition education policy language.

8. LWP COMPONENT 1: • Pre-K-12 students should receive nutrition education (NE) that is interactive and teaches the skills they need to adopt healthy behaviors. • NE is offered in the school dining room as well as in the classroom, with coordination between the FS staff and teachers. • Students receive consistent nutrition messages throughout the school, class, café, home, community and media. • Staff who provide NE have appropriate training.

9. LWP COMPONENT 1: Con’t. • State and district health education curriculum standards and guidelines include both nutrition and physical education. • Nutrition is integrated into the health education curricula or other core curriculum. • Schools link NE activities with the coordinated school health program. • Schools are Team Nutrition schools and they conduct NE activities and promotions that involve parents, students, and the community.

10. LWP COMPONENT 2: SETTING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY GOALS The primary goal for school’s physical activity component is to provide opportunities for every student to develop the knowledge and skills for specific physical activities, maintain physical fitness, regularly participate in physical activity, and understand the short- and long-term benefits of a physically active and healthful lifestyle. The following examples of policy language should be considered when setting goals for physical activity.

11. LWP COMPONENT 2: • At a minimum, students should have 60 minutes of physical activity on most, preferably all, days of the week. • Students should be given opportunities for physical activity during the school day through daily recess, elective PE, walking programs and integration of physical activity into the academic curriculum.

12. LWP COMPONENT 2: Con’t. • Students should be given opportunities for physical activity through a range of after-school programs including intramurals, interscholastic athletics, and physical activity clubs. • Schools should work with the community to create an environment that is safe and supportive of students’ physically active commute to and from school.

13. LWP COMPONENT 3: ESTABLISHING NUTRITION STANDARDS FOR FOODS Students’ lifelong eating habits are greatly influenced by the types of foods and beverages available to them. Schools must establish standards to address all foods and beverages sold or served to students, including those available outside of the school meal programs. The following items should be considered when setting nutrition standards.

14. LWP COMPONENT 3: • Nutrition standards should focus on increasing nutrient density, decreasing fat and added sugar, and moderating portion size. • Focus on foods and beverages sold in vending machines, snack bars, school stores, and concession stands. • Focus on items sold as part of fundraisers. • Focus on refreshments served at parties, celebrations, and meetings during the school day.

15. LWP COMPONENT 4: SETTING GOALS FOR OTHER SCHOOL-BASED ACTIVITIES Policies established under this category create a school environment that provides consistent wellness messages and is conducive to healthy eating and being physically active. Examples of policy language include:

16. LWP COMPONENT 4: • Provide a clean, safe, enjoyable meal environment. • Provide adequate time for students to enjoy eating with friends, scheduled as near the middle of the school day as possible. • Prohibit use of food as reward or punishment. • Provide enough space and serving areas to ensure student access to school meals with minimum waiting time. • Ensure fundraising efforts are supportive of healthy eating.

17. LWP COMPONENT 4: Con’t. • Prohibit denial of student participation in recess or other PA as a form of discipline, or cancellation of recess or other PA time for instructional make-up time. • Provide ongoing professional training and development for FS staff and teachers in the areas of nutrition and PA. • Provide student access to PA facilities outside school hours.

18. LWP COMPONENT 4: Con’t. • Schedule recess for elementary grades before lunch so that children will come to lunch less distracted and ready to eat. • Develop strategies for parents, teachers, school administrators, students, FS staff, and community members to serve as role models in practicing healthy eating and being physically active, both in school and at home.

19. How will this happen?

20. Step by step… • Assemble a team • Assess current activities, programs, policies • Identify areas of need • Develop policy • Implement • Evaluate • Revise and update as needed

21. Assemble a team • Be sure to include a representative from all required partners (administrators, food service, teachers, parents, students, community, etc.) • Designate a team leader

22. Assess • What policies, programs and activities are currently in place which promote wellness? • How can they be incorporated into your LEA’s wellness policy?

23. Identify areas of need • Identify areas with improvement opportunities • Focus on areas currently not being addressed

24. Develop policy • Keep it simple and reasonable • Represent your communities ideas • Incorporate all current activities • Include new programs to address gaps identified during the assessment phase

25. Implement • Follow the course determined by the team • Be careful not to do too much all at once. This could leave staff and students feeling overwhelmed

26. Evaluate • Look at activities and programs • What is going well? • What could be done differently? • Track your progress • Celebrate and build on successes

27. Revise and Update • The wellness policy is a work in progress • Revisions should be made periodically to keep pace with changing needs and to keep your policy current • Update activities and programs to increase participation and ensure continued success in working toward your goals

28. Resources Available online at www.nysed.gov/cn/cnms.htm by clicking on Local Wellness Policies

29. We are here to help For more information regarding the local wellness policy please call us (518) 473-1525 Sandra Sheedy, Barbara St. Louis or Thomas Ring