Florida wellness policy: Assesing physical activity requirements after year one

The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 required each school receiving funding for free and reduced meals to develop and implement a school wellness policy. School districts nationwide were required to have a policy in place by the first day of the 2006-2007 academic year. A year has passed since the policy was implemented and schools have established recommendations and/or requirements for minimum minutes of physical activity to meet state and county wellness policies. In the state of Florida there are 67 counties with school wellness policies. The purposes of this presentation are to identify which counties in Florida have set minimum requirements to increase daily physical activity for elementary and secondary students, and to evaluate how school districts in Florida are measuring the physical activity goals identified in the local wellness policies. Information will be provided on the minimum physical activity requirements at the county level and the amount of physical being provided by schools within those counties. Assessments will be made on the effectiveness of school wellness policies on the determining the amount of physical activity required in elementary and secondary schools in various counties in the state of Florida. County by county comparisons will be made to determine which county wellness policies have lead to the highest physical activity minutes provided in schools within each county.