Enforcing Nutrition and Physical Activity Standards in Schools and Childcare Settings: A Spectrum of Legal Options

Public health responses to childhood obesity require a comprehensive and coordinated approach. We apply the spectrum of prevention to explore a unified approaach based on ecological models that functions at all levels of society from the individual level, state, national, and international law and policy. We will identify possible interventions, segregated by actors in school food systems (e.g. teacher, school, education department, etc.) taking account of present standards for physical activity and nutrition for children in schools and licensed child-care settings. We will evaluate those interventions by examining their public health efficacy, their legal and political risk, and how they compliment each other in relation to a larger ecological framework. Six states will serve as case studies and examples to illustrate our recommendations.