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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Stephanie Vecchiarelli, EdD, MPH, CHES, School of Public Health, UCLA, Box 95-1772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, 310/267-2946, stephv@ucla.edu

The Nutrition Friendly Schools and Communities (NFSC) program is an environmental model based on the Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP) to support healthy eating and physical activity for students, staff, and families. It includes a set of criteria (15 Steps) which schools had to achieve in order to be Nutrition Friendly certified. The NFSC model was pilot tested in eight elementary schools in a large, urban school district in which school stakeholders were actively engaged in developing programs and activities to meet the 15 Steps. Each school's NFSC committee conducted semi-annual self-evaluations to determine their progress towards the 15 Steps.

Modeled after the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative's certification process, the NFSC certification tool and process were developed in collaboration with school stakeholders to be used by external evaluators to assess whether schools had met the 15 Steps to become Nutrition Friendly certified. It assesses the entire school environment in regards to the 15 Steps and the CSHP. The certification tool was pre-tested in the NFSC pilot study schools. Four external evaluators, not associated with the study schools, were trained to conduct the evaluations. They assessed the schools using the certification tool, provided feedback regarding the tool and certification process, and made suggestions for improvement for both the tool and the process. The results of the external evaluations including adjustments made to the certification tool will be presented. In addition, suggestions for adapting the tool for other school-based nutrition and physical activity programs will be discussed.

Learning Objectives: