Partners in Children's Health: Engaging Parents in School Wellness Policies

The landscape of the school food and physical activity environment is poised for positive change. In response to the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, school districts across the state have passed wellness policies to address the proliferation of high fat, high sugar foods, and increase the physical activity level of their students. The federal mandate required districts to develop these policies with parents, school personnel, students, and community members. In order to successfully implement the policies, and ensure children have access to healthy foods and physical activity, more parents must be engaged in the process. Parents can be effective allies if they are empowered to work with schools to ensure children have optimum health for learning. To better understand how to support parent efforts to improve the school environment, California Project LEAN (Leaders Encouraging Activity & Nutrition), conducted formative research with parents and stakeholders, including a literature review, key informant interviews, online surveys and strategy sessions. CPL also created tools and trainings to give parents the skills and resources needed to get involved in implementing school wellness policies and to advocate and be proactive when changes on school campuses are not occurring.

This session will highlight effective strategies, communication tools and resources for engaging parents in school wellness policy efforts. Also to be discussed will be how to overcome barriers to involvement and the types of activities parents would be interested in working on to help ensure policies are implemented. Local examples of how parents have been involved in policies will be shared.