Drivers for successful implementation of school wellness policies: Implications for strategic planning process

Childhood obesity continues to be a pressing issue for the US, with rates tripling in the past 30 years. Improved nutrition and physical activity behaviors have been associated with reducing childhood obesity. Both federal and state governments are advocating wellness practice policies that promote student health through the reduction in childhood obesity and obesogenic behaviors. Studies have reported that changes to school food environments and practices that lead to improved dietary behavior are powerful to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic. There have been recommended tools for implementing school wellness policies but very limited reports on the decision processes and the drivers for successful implementation of these policies. The authors utilized (1) the data from CDC's School Health Policies and Practices Study (SHPPS) to attain a snapshot of the trend in school environment and infrastructure relating to school wellness policy implementation; and (2) onsite interviews of the selected Indiana schools to evaluate relationships between policy, organizational (district- & school-level) features, resulting strategies, and operations used to implement local school wellness. The findings informed the further development of a theoretical model of school wellness policy implementation and proposed systems and processes that are conducive to strategic planning and execution of the policies at the grassroots' level. Future studies and framework also were suggested for the subsequent obesity related health outcomes for students.